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Guilford Softball Walks Off Against East Haven in SCC Quarters; Crew Makes History at State Regatta

Softball

The Guilford softball team earned a 3-2, walk-off win over East Haven last week to advance to the semifinals of the SCC Tournament.

The 3rd-seeded Indians took on No. 6 East Haven in a SCC Tournament quarterfinal on May 24 and prevailed 3-2. Jess Stettinger hit a two-run homer in the top of the fifth to give East Haven a 2-0 lead. Guilford came back in the sixth with a one-out, solo homer by Emily Torre. Following Torre’s shot, Jordyn Goldstein, Leah Kornguth, and Megan Zampano had consecutive singles, with Zampano driving in a run to tie the game. After Amanda King set down East Haven in order in the top of the seventh, Ava Gladwin led off the bottom of the inning with a single to left. Sara Barreira then dropped down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Gladwin to second base. After King flew out to deep left field, Torre was intentionally walked to set the stage for Goldstein. Goldstein fouled off pitch after pitch with two strikes on her until finally hitting a line drive over the right fielder’s head for a two-out RBI single to score Gladwin with the winning run. Goldstein and Gladwin each had three hits to lead the Guilford offense. King struck out eight and scattered five hits for the win.

“What an incredible comeback. I was very proud of our effort today. After East Haven took the lead in the fifth, the girls continued to work hard, had great at-bats, and put the ball in play,” said Head Coach Steve Zajac. “East Haven made a few great plays on line drives by Leah Kornguth and Sara Bareira that would’ve scored runs, but he girls didn’t get discouraged; they kept battling. When Emily got us on the board with the home run, it started things rolling and the hits started coming one after another. With this group of girls, you get the feeling in the dugout that we can always come back, that a game is never over.”

Guilford (16-5) next plays at No. 2 North Haven in a semifinal on Saturday, May 27 at 1 p.m. The winner of that moves onto the final versus either No. 1 Cheshire or No. 4 Amity at 6 p.m. on that same day at Biondi Field at West Haven High School.

After SCCs, Guilford will compete in the Class L State Tournament, which begins on Tuesday, May 30.

Baseball

The Indians faced Fairfield Prep in a SCC Tournament quarterfinal last week and dropped a one-run decision.

No. 7 seed Guilford traveled to No. 2 Fairfield Prep for a SCC Tournament quarterfinal on May 23 and took a 4-3 loss against the Jesuits.

The Indians (13-8) next begin the Class L State Tournament, with play commencing on Tuesday, May 30.

Crew

The 18th annual Connecticut Public Schools Rowing Association State Championship was held on May 21 at Lake Waramaug in New Preston. Guilford, with Head Coach Matthew Wilson, had a historic day at the state regatta by sending eight boats to the finals and bringing home three medals for the first time with two silvers and one bronze. Nine Guilford boats participated in the day-long event, competing against 12 other teams from around Connecticut. Each race was 1,500 meters, with a six-lane course.

Guilford’s girls’ second varsity boat earned a bronze with a time of 5:25.3. This marks Guilford’s first medal in a girls’ varsity eight-boat. The girls’ novice eight-boat won a silver medal in its race with a time of 5:44.30, only placing behind first-place Glastonbury, which recorded a time of 5:38.90.

The boys’ novice eight-boat gained a silver medal with a time of 5:14.70 as Glastonbury placed first at 5:09.50. The girls’ first varsity boat claimed fourth place with a time of 5:12.80, missing third place by one second. The boys’ second varsity boat came in fourth place, boys’ first varsity came in eighth, girls’ third varsity came in fifth, and the girls’ novice four-boat finished in fourth for the Indians.

Girls’ Outdoor Track

Guilford finished in fourth place by scoring 52 points at the SCC Championship at Lyman Hall on May 23.

Meredith Bloss took the 3,200 crown for the Indians with a time of 11:09.02, edging out second-place runner Bridgid Selfors of Mercy (11:09.09). The 4x800 relay of Andrea Basilicato, Chloe Shaw, Julia Esposito, and Elissa Strand emerged victorious in 9:47.95, besting runner-up Amity (9:55.79).

Also scoring points for Guilford, Jacqui Guerra finished second in the 1,600 (5:13.45), fourth for the 3,200 (11:54.43), and was eighth in the 800 (2:26.45). Bloss finished third in the 1,600 at 5:13.94 with Kelsi Putnam in sixth (5:26.37). Strand finished sixth in the 800 by running a 2:24.43, while Mallory Peters finished seventh in the discus (98-3). Also, the Indians’ 4x400 relay of Jess Bohan, Sofia Migani, Strand, and Shaw was took fifth place in 4:14.69.

Boys’ Outdoor Track

Jordan Lemby-Frey claimed first place in the 200-meter dash for the Indians at last week’s SCC Championship meet. Guilford tallied 34 points and came in eighth place as a squad.

Lembo-Frey ran a time of 22.35 seconds to defeat Alex Pratcher III from Law (22.49) for the 200 title. Lembo-Frey was also a close runner-up in the 100 as his mark of 11.16 put him just behind Pratcher III (11.12). Also for Guilford, Finn Davidson came in fourth for the 1,600 (4:26.70), Corey Gambardella raced to eighth in the 800 (2:05.31), the 4x400 relay of Will Smith, Caleb Benedict, Gambardella, and Lembo-Frey finished third (3:26.15); and the 4x100 of Jacob Sabol-Low, Sam Sessions, Thomas Larkin-Wells, and Corey Sondak came in eighth place at 45.22.

Boys’ Tennis

Guilford competed in the SCC Tournament last week, recording a victory over Xavier before taking a semifinal loss against Hand.

The 4th-seeded Indians hosted No. 5 Xavier in a SCC Tournament quarterfinal on May 23 and prevailed 5-2. In the semifinals against top-seeded Hand at Yale University the next day, the Indians took a 7-0 defeat.

Guilford (17-5) next plays in the Class L State Championship, which begins on Saturday, May 27.

Boys’ Lacrosse

On the heels of an 8-8 regular season, Guilford will next compete in the Class M State Tournament. The Indians open states with a qualifying round matchup on Saturday, May 27.

Girls’ Lacrosse

The Indians bring an overall record of 8-9 into the Class M State Tournament. The tourney gets underway with qualifying round action on Friday, May 26 or Saturday, May 27.

Golf

The Indians competed in three matches to close out the regular season last week.

Guilford was edged by Cheshire by the slimmest of margins, 167-168, on May 23.

The Indians then closed the regular season at 4-12 after shooting at 170 to drop a tri-match against Hand (158) and Branford (166).