Printer Friendly Version - Guilford Baseball Grabs Two Victories; Both Tennis Teams See Perfect Week

Kam Miles had two hits when the Guilford baseball team beat Shelton 7-6 on a walk-off single from Sean Kellaher in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Indians stand at 6-2 for the year. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

The Guilford baseball squad took two recent defeats, but then responded with a pair of victories for an overall mark of 6-2 with a record of 1-1 in the SCC Oronoque Division.

Guilford dropped its first contest of the year by a 7-0 score against Morgan on April 15 and then lost a 1-0 decision to division foe Fairfield Prep two days later. Noah Rubino pitched well and took the hard-luck loss against Prep.

The Indians stopped the small skid with a 7-6 victory over Oronoque foe Shelton on April 19. Guilford drew 10 walks and nabbed five stolen bases, winning it by plating four runs in the seventh inning. Sean Kellaher hit a walk-off single with two outs to win the game for the Indians, who received two hits apiece from Matt Donlan and Kam Miles.

Guilford then scored a convincing 12-4 triumph over Lyman Hall on April 20. The Indians pounded out 15 hits in the game. Kellaher and Miles had three hits each, plus Logan Hitchcock notched two doubles with four RBI. Head Coach Brian Hayden said that pitcher John Luke Cianciolo settled down after the first inning and give the Indians a quality outing and added that Brody Ulrich had a great day at shortstop.

Guilford returned to the court strong after a week off, going 4-0 for the week to run its record to 4-2.

The Indians started with a 6-1 win over Sacred Heart Academy on April 17. Claire Dinauer (7-6 [7-5], 7-5), Faren Roth (6-0, 6-0), and Acadia Hall (6-4, 6-2) prevailed in singles play, while the tandems of Charlotte and Molly Babbin (6-0, 6-1), Samantha Stofflet and Emily Dietzko (6-0, 6-3), and Elaina Griffiths and Annabelle Wang (6-4, 6-1) garnered wins on the doubles court.

Guilford then beat Branford 6-1 the following day. Dinauer (6-1, 6-0), Roth (6-1, 6-1), Allie Stankewich (6-2, 6-1), Morgan Mancuso (6-1, 6-1) were victorious for the Indians, as were the doubles teams of Charlotte and Molly Babbin (6-4, 6-1), plus Stofflet and Dietzko (6-1, 6-0).

Guilford then notched a 4-0, rain-shortened win against Law on April 19. Dinauer (6-2, 6-1), Roth (6-0, 6-1), Stankewich (6-1) secured victories, along with the duo of the Babbin sisters (6-0, 6-1).

The Indians made a clean sweep of their competition with a trio of 7-0 wins last week to improve to 6-1. Guilford recorded a 7-0 sweep of Hamden on April 17, posted a 7-0 shutout of Lyman Hall the next day, and then blanked Cross 7-0 on April 19.

In the previous week’s action, the Indians posted 7-0 shutouts over West Haven and Branford. Against Branford, wins came from Jeffrey Eng (6-1, 6-4), Gianni Esposito (6-2, 6-2), Alex Kagan (6-1, 6-4), and DC Mason (6-2, 6-0), as well as the doubles teams of Sam Inchalik and Noah Horton (6-0, 6-0), Michael Hooker and Kyle Dunlop (6-2, 6-2), and Joel Cimino and Andrew Inchalik (6-4, 6-0)

Facing West Haven, Eng (7-6 [7-1], 6-2), Kagan (6-3, 4-6, 10-3), Mason (6-2, 7-6 [8-6]), and Esposito (6-1, 6-0), plus the duos of Sam Inchalik and Horton (6-0, 6-3), Hooker and Dunlop (6-1, 6-1), and Cimino and Andrew Inchalik (6-0, 6-2) emerged victorious for Guilford.

The Indians swept a recent quad-meet by posting victories against Branford, Cheshire, and Sacred Heart Academy to run their record to 4-2. Jacqui Guerra won both the 1,600 (5:25.8) and 800 (2:30.5) for the Indians. Meredith Bloss won the 3,200 in 11:40 after taking second place in the 1,600. Mallory Peters won the discus (87-4), Chloe Shaw captured the 400 in 61.9, and the 4x800 (Elissa Strand, Shaw, Julia Esposito, Andera Basilicato in 10:25) and 4x400 (Jess Bohan, Elissa Strand, Guerra, and Shaw in 4:34) relays also took first place.

On April 22, Guilford competed at the Panther Invitational in Plainfield. Guerra took second in the 800 with a personal-best 2:21.76, followed by Shaw in 2:26.22. Guerra also posted a personal best in the 3,200 at 11:24.07 for second place. Kelsi Putnam placed third in the 1,600 in 5:31.69. Peters was third in the discus with her season-best throw of 98-5. The 4x400 of Shaw, Strand, Guerra, Bohan took second in 4:17. Sofia Migani was sixth in the high jump with a height of 4-6.

The week before, Guilford took a 92-33 loss to Hillhouse and a 75-54 defeat against East Haven. Guerra won the 1,600 in 5:31 and the 800 in 2:25, plus Bloss took the 3,200 in 12:31. The 4x800 relay was victorious in a time of 10:28, led by Esposito, Clara Wiesler, Ellie Wiesler, and Bloss. Sofia Migani tied for first in the high jump at 4-6.

Guilford faced Lyman Hall, Branford, and West Haven for a quad-meet on April 18. The Indians won the 4x800 relay, while their 4x100 of Jordan Lembo-Frey, Jacob Sabol-Low, Thomas Larkin Wells, and Corey Sondak took first with a time of 45.2 seconds. Lembo-Frey also won the 100 (11.5) and 200 (22.9). William Smith claimed the 800 (2:20.8) and Luke Shields finished second (2:22.1). Corey Gambardella finished as runner-up in the 400 (53.8). The deciding factor in Guilford’s win against Branford was its performance in the field events, led by Connor Rose, Jacob Walker, James Petritz, Juan Colberg-Martinez, Jack Surgenor, and Clay Huffman, who picked up crucial points in the shot put, javelin, and discus.

At the Panther Invitational on April 22, Lembo-Frey won the 200 in 23.11 and earned a fourth-place ribbon in the 100 by running 11.65. Finn Davidson was fourth in the 1,600 at 4:32.87. The 4x400 relay of Mark McNamara, Joseph Walters, Hugh Medvecky, and Smith took fifth in 3:52.22.

Previously, Guilford dropped 69-62 decisions to both Hillhouse and East Haven on April 11. In the javelin, Colberg-Martinez had a toss of 101 feet-7 inches, Walker added a throw of 76-1, and Rose threw 72 feet. In the shot put, Rose recorded a distance of 39-4 and Petritz threw 33 feet. For the discus, Rose launched a throw of 86-4, Walker hit 73-4, and Petritz threw 70-4. Jack Surgenor joined Rose, Petritz, Colberg-Martinez, and Walker with personal-best distances on the day. Elsewhere, Sondak and Ryan Costanzo tied for first in the high jump with both clearing 5-2. Costanzo also reached 17-2.5 in the long jump. Sabol-Low jumped 16-4 and Timothy Vail head a leap of 15-1 in the long jump. Larkin Wells triple jumped 37-5, while Sabol-Low hit a mark of 31 feet.

On the track, Sondak ran the 100 in 11.5 seconds and qualified for states. Sondak finished the 200 in 24.6 and Sabol-Low ran a time of 26 seconds. Sam Sessions ran a 52.6 in the 400 to qualify for states. Garret Hughes finished the 800 in 2:24.50. Luke Shields ran a 5:24 for the 1,600. In the 3,200, Josh Stern clocked in at 10:40 and Brennan Kaisen had a time of 11:23. The 4x400 relay of Garrett Hughes, Griffin Hughes, Evans Schultes, and Nicholas Palumbo recorded a time of 4:05.4.

The Indians finished their week at 4-3 after grabbing two victories in three matchups. Guilford took a 12-9 loss to Notre Dame-West Haven on April 17 and then evened its record with a 17-5 win over Branford on April 19. Guilford finished the week on a strong note with a 17-2 final against Southington on April 22.

Guilford split a pair of contests against SCC foes Branford and Law last week, after which the Indians bested McMahon to move to 3-4.

The Indians began last week with a 12-6 loss to Branford on April 18. Meghan Johnson made five saves in the loss.

Guilford rebounded with a 16-5 win over Law on April 21. Guilford’s goals came from Nicolette Spotlow (7), Olivia Clarke (4), Maddie Costantino (2), Hannah McDermott (2), and Bryce Makula (1). Clarke (4) and Catherine Larrow (2) had the Indians’ assists, while Molly McLaughlin made 11 saves.

Next, the Indians edged out McMahon 11-10 on April 22. Spotlow had a five-goal night, while Clarke added three, Constantino had two, and Nicole Tepley also scored a goal. Clarke (2), Spotlow (2), and Tepley (1) assisted on scores, and McLaughlin stopped 18 shots.

For the boys’ races, the Indians’ varsity squad placed second out of two boats competing, JV was second out of three boats, and novice finished second out of two.

For the girls, Guilford’s varsity team finished second out of two boats, JV won its race of three boats, novice was second out of two, and novice 4 was tops out of two boats. Guilford’s head coach is Matt Wilson.

Guilford took three defeats to begin its season last week. The Indians dropped a 176-180 contest to Hamden on April 17, lost a 158-173 decision to Amity on April 19, and then took a 162-176 defeat to Notre Dame-West Haven the next day.