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06/27/2017 12:00 AMThere are good times aplenty in the Guilford baseball community these days. After the Senior Legion team made states last summer and the high school squad won 15 games with a pair of postseason berths this spring, the Post 48 Seniors have been adding to those positive vibes by playing some great baseball throughout the first half of the 2017 season.
Last year, Head Coach Michael Yates’s squad earned a State Tournament bid by virtue of a third-place finish with a record of 12-12 in Zone 3. Guilford then took a 1-0 loss to Hamden in states.
This season, Post 48 lost three of its first seven games, but then stormed back to win seven of its next 10. Currently, Guilford is in fourth place in Zone 3 with a record of 11-8. In a recent victory, Post 48 earned a 1-0 win over Zone 3 power Cheshire on June 27, while getting just one hit in the game. The win marked Guilford’s second victory over Cheshire this year.
“A lot of our success recently has come from our lineup starting to click,” Coach Yates said. “We had a lot of guys come onto the team trying to bounce back after [the high school team’s] tough loss in states to Foran this spring. Once the lineup started coming around, our pitching staff was also lights out, and has been all year.”
Guilford’s offense has been slugging away thus far this summer, led by infielder/outfielder Lucian Zingarella, who owned a .358 batting average through the first 17 games, along with utility man Sean Kellaher (.354), third baseman Logan Hitchcock (.322), infielder Charlie Danaher (.343), shortstop Brody Ulrich, center fielder Evan Song, and catcher Matt Donlan (.319).
“Lucian is returning after his freshman year of college and was All-State as a senior last year. He didn’t playing college ball this spring, but he’s come out white hot this summer and is tearing the cover off the ball. Sean was an All-State player this year. He can play any position and does whatever the team needs,” Yates said. “Logan has been a nice addition and is a power guy in the lineup. I can’t say enough good things about Charlie. He’s the first guy on the field and the last one to leave. He’s the glue that holds the lineup together. Brody and Evan have been our strength on defense up the middle, and it’s been nice to have that comfort. Matt is the best catcher in the state, and I’ve had coaches say to me before games how they won’t try to run on him.”
Post 48 is also looking good on the hill as Yates’s club features a stacked arsenal of arms. Tom Cattaneo was sporting a 1.99 earned-run average through the first three weeks of play, while southpaw Jack Strand (2.25) and Kevin Cargos (1.43) have also been providing quality innings for Guilford. Casey Johnson recently got the call-up from the Junior Legion circuit and tossed a 68-pitch, complete-game shutout in a 2-0 triumph over Wallingford on June 21.
“We are blessed with a good pitching staff, and it’s been awesome to see it grow in talent and numbers,” Coach Yates said. “Tom is our go-to guy and throws hard and mixes up his pitches. Jack is a hard-throwing lefty. Kevin has earned a pair of complete-game shutouts and mixes his off-speed pitches. Casey had a quality start against Wallingford and is back up with the team this week.”
In the Cheshire win, Cattaneo pitched a complete game before Guilford took an 8-1 loss to Cheshire the next night. On June 25, Post 48 split a doubleheader on the road against Middletown, which is one spot ahead of Guilford in third place in Zone 3. Post 75 edged out Guilford 9-8 in the opener, but Post 48 then bounced back to beat Middletown 4-1 behind a stellar seven-inning effort from Cargos on the mound. Coach Yates said that getting the win in the latter half of the doubleheader truly exemplified the fire in his team’s eyes.
“We had a slugfest with Middletown in game two, where we had 13 or 14 hits. When you lose the first game of a doubleheader, it’s difficult to get up for that second game,” said Yates. “But they put up runs early, and Kevin held it down on the mound. It was a testament to their character, and it was nice to see culmination of their hard work.”
Featuring a roster that features many athletes who’ve played on the postseason stage with both Post 48 and the Indians, Coach Yates’s club is aiming for a deep playoff run that they want to see culminate with a crown this year.
“From day one, we’ve set out for a state championship. We still believe that is our goal. We also expect to be back in states,” Yates said. “Things have fallen into place with this program. This group of juniors and seniors was in our youth program when I started as head coach. I’ve known this group for five [to] seven years at this point, so we’ve been working towards a year like this.”
The talent pool in Zone 3 is extremely deep, and so Guilford will certainly be battle-tested in advance of its potential State Tournament berth. Coach Yates said that it’s all about getting an early lead with the lumber to give the guys on the bump some insurance when they go to work.
“We’ve stressed getting on teams early and doing our job at the bat of getting runners on and then driving them home,” said Yates. “We are in a competitive zone, so if we can do our jobs at the bat, then the pitching staff will have our backs.”
From the Sidelines
In addition to everyone already mentioned, Post 48’s roster also features pitcher/infielder Matt McGrath, utility player David Meade, infielder/outfielder Kam Miles, outfielder Ben Panagoulias, third baseman/relief pitcher Tyler Rogers, and pitcher Gray Stephens.
Michael Yates is in his third year as Guilford’s Senior Legion skipper and is assisted by Michael Gell.
The top four teams in Zone 3 qualify for the State Tournament, which begins on Saturday, July 15 with Southern Division Sectional portion of the bracket.