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06/13/2015 12:00 AMPlaying with a heavy heart after saying good-bye to a loved one, the Guilford baseball squad stuck together this spring and improved upon last year's record by returning to the postseason.
The Indians endured the campaign while dealing with the passing away of one of their assistant coaches, Ralph Schipani, who was also the general manager for the town's American Legion Baseball program. Still, Guilford battled to a 10-10 regular season mark to make it back to the Class L State Tournament after missing it last year. The Indians also competed on a newly redone home field at Guilford High School after having played the entire 2014 slate on the road.
"Our goals were to win the division, return to states, get a home game at states, and reach the SCC Tournament. We only hit one of those, but we got back to states early in the year as we started 8-3. We also had a 4-1 lead against [division champion] Hand, but we lost 9-4," said Head Coach Brian Hayden, whose squad was ranked No. 26 in states and lost 5-0 to No. 7 Windsor in the first round. "Early in the year, we lost Ralph. It was a really difficult time for us and he meant a lot to everyone. Everyone was at his funeral, but the seniors and the entire team really helped me and the other coaches through the tough time, which is one of the big things I take away from this year."
The Indians opened their new home turf with a pair of victories in two-straight walk-off wins against Shelton (4-3 on April 23) and Lyman Hall (2-1 on April 25). These triumphs galvanized Guilford and gave the team some strong momentum for the rest of the way.
"Having a home field was huge as it created an energy for us by knowing where we would play and practice," said Hayden. "Those two walk-off victories additionally gave us some energy, as well."
Those two wins also came in the midst of the Indians' first five-game winning streak under Hayden—a stretch that saw Guilford take down some of the top squads in the SCC.
"We beat very good teams in North Haven and Shelton during that run, plus we had a come-from-behind victory against Foran [8-4] where we were down 4-1. In our second-to-last regular season game versus Hamden, we were being no-hit through six innings, but then we broke it up and won [3-1]," said Hayden, whose team was also just one win shy of winning the SCC Hammonasset Division title. "We showed that we could play with the best teams in the state. We also lost a 12-inning contest to another really good team in Sheehan. We were honestly a play or two away from being 14-6 and I think we were better than our
record indicated."
Leading the charge was a trio of senior SCC All-Hammonasset captains in shortstop Tyler Donlan, staff ace John Suchy, and outfielder turned catcher Chris Rogers. Hayden praised each one of them for bringing their own unique ingredient to the table to inspire their squad.
"Tyler had a very high baseball IQ and he set the tone in practice. He took every rep or situation like he would in a live game. He was a lead-by-example type of guy," said Hayden. "John pitched in big spots for us all year. Against Foran, he showed he was a true competitor that day. He was more of a vocal leader that gave maximum effort. We got all of our energy from Chris Rogers. He moved to catcher after an injury on our team, but he never complained and worked hard every day."
Rounding out the senior class were right fielder Kyle Nettland (also SCC All-Hammonasset Team), infielder Nate Monte, and Alex Potocsny. The Indians' sensational set of six seniors all played a pivotal role in helping Guilford bounce back from a 6-14 record only a year ago.
"They helped turn around a 6-14 team because they rallied the troops, played all ball, and organized offseason workouts with a fresh, new attitude," said Hayden. "The seniors' main focus was to get back to the state tournament. Leadership wise, they played with a young group of guys, yet they took them under their wing and were great, uplifting teammates."
As sophomore infielder Charlie Danaher led the team in RBI with 20 on his way to All-Division honors, the Indians handed out team hardware, as well. Donlan won the Sportsmanship Award, Nettland was honored as Most Improved Player, Suchy was Most Outstanding Player, and Rogers was the Leadership Award recipient.
The selflessness of Guilford's seniors allowed the underclassmen to garner more varsity experience this season, which will hopefully lend itself well to the Indians next spring as Hayden and company will look to build off the big strides made on and off the field by the club this year.
"We graduate some guys in key spots at catcher, short, second base, along with a lot of pitching. Yet our seniors did a great job of letting the younger guys get some time at the varsity level," Hayden said. "We have a lot of guys in the program as juniors who played roles this year that will be seniors. But I think the combination of talent, a new field, and a state tournament appearance rejuvenated this program."