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06/03/2018 12:00 AMThe Guilford softball team has relied on solid pitching from its senior ace, along with a well-rounded lineup throughout the 2018 season. Those two strengths were on full display when the Indians claimed victory in their first two games of last week’s Class L State Tournament. Guilford earned victories versus Rockville and Mercy, before taking a loss to Hand in the quarterfinals.
After the Indians finished with a record of 14-6 for the regular season, they took a 7-3 loss to eventual finalist Amity on a rain-soaked field in the SCC Tournament quarterfinals on May 22. Guilford then turned its attention to the Class L State Tournament, where the 10th-seeded Indians soundly defeated No. 23 seed Rockville by an 18-3 score at home in the first round on May 29. The following afternoon, the Indians hosted No. 26 seed Mercy for a second-round contest and routed the Tigers, 11-1. Guilford then went up against No. 2 seed Hand in the Class L quarterfinals on June 3 lost fell by a 4-1 final to end the year at 16-8 overall.
Head Coach Steve Zajac was pleased to see his team bounce back from its loss to Amity in the SCC Tournament by getting a few wins in states.
“We were disappointed with the outcome of the Amity game, but the girls came back focused the next day,” said Zajac. “We had a good week of weather and good week of practice last week. The girls were always in a good mood, too. They weren’t down about SCCs, because they were looking forward to states.”
Facing Rockville in the first round, the Indians saw sophomore Mary Evans lead an offensive outburst by getting a double, a home run, and six RBI in the 18-3 victory. Junior Jordyn Goldstein went 3-for-3 with a double and three RBI for Guilford. Senior captain Amanda King hit a three-run homer and struck out 12 on the mound to earn the win.
With Guilford up 2-0 in the third inning, Evans broke open a close game by hitting a bases-clearing double to deep center field. Guilford followed by scoring 12 runs in the fourth inning, highlighted by junior Leah Kornguth’s two-run double off the fence, Goldstein’s two-run double to left-center field, and a long three-run blast by King. Evans also knocked the first home run of her career over the fence in the fourth.
“The girls came ready to play today. It was our best hitting of the year with four doubles and two three-run homers,” said Zajac. “Mary was key for us today, getting us gong in the third inning with her double, and Jordyn hit the ball solidly all day with three hits.”
Against Mercy in the second round, the Indians built a comfortable 8-1 lead after three innings and never looked back on their way to the 11-1 win. Mercy actually took a 1-0 edge before Guilford came to the plate, but once the Indians grabbed their bats, the game all but was decided. Junior Ava Gladwin (3-for-4) started with a single, Kornguth bunted for a base hit, and then King’s RBI single tied the score. A day after her six-RBI performance, Evans hit a 3-2 pitch for a two-out hit that gave the Indians a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
After a 1-2-3 second inning by King (8 strikeouts), junior Emily Torre hit a grand slam to help push the command to 8-1 as Guilford coasted to a trip to the Elite Eight. Senior Sara Barreira was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI for the Indians. King achieved two career milestones in this victory by scoring her 100th career run and also getting the 100th RBI of her high-school career.
“We had some big games with the bats this year,” Coach Zajac said. “But we’ve done some of our best hitting of the year in these first two games of states.”
The Indians also featured several individual conference and state postseason honorees this season. King and Gladwin both made the All-SCC Team with King being named the SCC Player of the Year. King was also named to the All-State Team and selected to play in the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Senior All-Star Game. Gladwin was picked to play in the same game at the junior level. Also, Barreira was selected to play in the Scholar Athlete Classic on behalf of the Indians.
Coach Zajac said that his team has been ambitious right from the start of the preseason this spring. So, when SCCs ended, the Indians were determined to not only wipe away the memory of that loss, but also their first-round exit from states a year ago.
“We had high expectations heading into the year, and we had some close losses to good teams like Cheshire and Hand, but they also didn’t want states to end early like it did last year against Sacred Heart Academy,” Zajac said. “I think the loss to Amity was a spot where we had frustration, but we bounced right back, because we had our best combo of pitching, hitting, and defense in this tournament.”
From the Sidelines
In their 20 regular season games, the Indians scored 10 runs or more seven times.
Guilford closed the regular season having won four of its last five games, with the lone loss in that stretch coming against Hand.
Last year, Guilford took a 4-2 loss to Sacred Heart Academy in the first round of the Class L State Tournament.