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06/17/2017 12:00 AMThe Guilford baseball team not only met its preseason goals during the 2017 campaign, the Indians exceeded them and rejuvenated the program for the future following one of their deepest playoff runs in recent memory.
Head Coach Brian Hayden and the Indians finished with a record of 13-7 for the regular season on their way to qualifying for the Class L State Tournament, while also earning a wild card berth to the SCC Tournament for the first time in five years. In the SCC tourney, 7th-seeded Guilford was narrowly defeated by No. 2 seed and eventual finalist Fairfield Prep, 4-3, in its opening contest. Then as the No. 9 seed in states, the Indians defeated No. 24 seed E.O. Smith (6-3) and No. 25 Bristol Central (7-1) in the first two rounds before taking a 10-8 home loss to all-time Cinderella story and eventual Class L champion, No. 32 seed Foran, in the quarterfinals.
When all was said and done, the Indians overcame some of their obstacles from the previous season and learned a lot about themselves by inviting a guest into their dugout.
“Every year, our No. 1 goal is to qualify for states. We also want to compete within our division and go to SCCs, and we were able to make both tournaments. We also wanted to host a states game, and we did that and hosted three. We had large crowds this year and got the town excited about baseball again,” said Coach Hayden, whose team finished 15-9 overall. “Off the field, we had Sebastian Little, who is with a leadership council, visit us. He taught us about the mental side of the game. We needed to get over a hump, because we lost six games last year by a run. But then we beat Fairfield Warde by a run and then beat Hand 2-0, which were big early on. It showed right away that we were able to compete at a high level. We also had a comeback win over Shelton, and those early wins propelled us to tremendous success.”
Leading the charge for Guilford this spring were three dynamic senior captains in first baseman Charlie Danaher, infielder Sean Kellaher, and third baseman/pitcher Logan Hitchcock. Kellaher was an All-SCC-Oronoque Division and All-State selection for the Indians, who were further bolstered by additional leadership from senior shortstop Brody Ulrich. Coach Hayden said that each member of his senior quartet had his own unique hand in igniting a spark back into Guilford baseball.
“[All three captains] had tremendous seasons on the field. All three of them helped change the culture of Guilford baseball. I’m proud of them,” said Hayden. “Brody was the starting shortstop and then we DH’d for him for nine games, but he never put his head down. He came back in states and made a big impact there.”
All four of Guilford’s seniors shared the team’s Most Valuable Player Award, while Hitchcock also received the Sportsmanship Award and was presented with the No ‘I’ in Team Award from the Southern Connecticut Diamond Club. Hayden was named the Diamond Club’s Coach of the Year. Joining Kellaher on the All-Oronoque Team were junior battery mates in catcher Matt Donlan and pitcher Noah Rubino.
Despite graduating four pivotal members of this year’s squad, Coach Hayden still feels confident about the Indians’ fortunes for 2018. Guilford will bring back several experienced underclassmen who have proven themselves on the field and gained plenty of experience during the pressure-packed postseason.
“We are losing four great leaders, and I credit them as a huge part of our culture change this year. We have a lot of guys coming back with talent and a feel for the atmosphere of the program, though,” said Coach Hayden. “We had a lot of unselfish guys this year give their best efforts. We had 11 juniors and about four or five freshmen dress for states. We have a good nucleus here.”
Looking back at his club’s watershed campaign, Coach Hayden said that will remember how the Indians were stacked with athleticism around the horn, but added that he will also remember that he had a clubhouse full of guys who were always ready to give their all during every situation in every game.
“At some point during the year, the wins and losses didn’t matter. They just came to practice and wanted to keep the year going. We had talent top to bottom and felt like we had depth at every position. They all bought into what we were trying to do,” said Hayden. “What mattered most to them was playing baseball with one another. With the deep playoff run, they saw how exciting postseason baseball can get. This was a special team this year.”
From the Sidelines
In the regular season, Guilford defeated Career (19-2 and 18-0), Fairfield Warde (3-2), Hand (2-0), West Haven (8-1 and 21-0), Shelton (7-6 and 3-2), Lyman Hall (12-4 and 13-3), Foran (11-2), and Cross (21-4 and 4-2).
Brian Hayden finished his sixth year as Guilford’s skipper and was assisted by Nick Hahn and Jeff Bonetti.
The Indians finished at 5-3 in the SCC Oronoque Division this spring.