By MICHAEL LETENDRE STAFF WRITER PLAINVILLE – It’s very easy for a summer baseball program to just play the games the league puts out for the squad. And when it comes to American Legion baseball, a lot of squads just play the minimum number of games. Some teams are afraid of stretching pitchers and players alike. But the squad from Plainville went in a different direction this season. And that change will surely pay dividends come next spring and summer. Plainville, playing in its usual 21 Zone 7 games, followed Bristol’s lead and picked up a number of exhibition and non-zone games. The results were more playing time for Post 33 and its young core got invaluable experience on the field because of it in 2014. “Within the last half of the year, the (young) kids had gotten past the fear factor and really came along,” said Plainville coach Jim Tufts. “They were seeing a lot more playing time, they were playing a lot more regularly and the reason why they were was because they were playing so well.” Plainville took part in nearly a dozen-and-a-half or so extra games and those contests only helped the squad in terms of [...]
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