Printer Friendly Version - Post 48 Seniors Qualify for States, Take First Two Games

Matt Donlan and the Guilford Senior American Legion baseball team qualified for the State Tournament after defeating Meriden in a one-game playoff and then earned wins versus Stamford and Naugatuck in their first two games. Photo by Susan Lambert/The Courier

The Guilford Senior American Legion baseball team defeated Meriden in a one-game playoff to earn a spot in the State Tournament and then made good on its bid by upsetting Stamford in its first contest of the bracket, before earning another victory over Naugatuck. Guilford, which has an overall record of 17-14, faced the winner of Branford and Naugatuck on July 25 (after press time) to see who advances to the Super Regional round, which takes place from Saturday, July 28 to Wednesday, Aug. 1. The State Tournament championship series takes place from Friday, Aug. 3 to Sunday, Aug. 5.

Post 48 and Meriden both finished with a regular-season record of 14-14 in Zone 3 play this summer, forcing the teams to play a winner-take-all game to decide which squad would get the fourth and final State Tournament bid among Zone 3 clubs. The game took place at Guilford High School on July 20 and Post 48 won it by rallying for two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to come away with a 4-3 walk-off victory. Gray Stephens pitched the first eight innings for Guilford, and Noah Rubino got the win after throwing the top of the ninth. Ethan Vashel had the game-winning RBI for Guilford, while Stephens helped his own cause with two hits on the day.

The following day, Guilford opened up the State Tournament by competing in the double-elimination regional portion of the bracket at Cubeta Stadium in Stamford. Post 48 claimed a 2-1 victory over Zone 4 champion Stamford. Rubino pitched the first 6.2 innings for Guilford, after which Casey Johnson recorded the final out when Stamford had two runners on base. Matt Donlan hit an RBI double, Vashel had an RBI, and Stephens added two more hits.

Guilford followed up that victory by beating Zone 5 runner-up Naugatuck 6-5 in another State Tournament matchup on July 22. McGrath pitched 3.1 innings to earn the win on the mound, while Stephens hit two doubles for Post 48 in the victory.

Previously, Guilford took a 3-2 defeat against Southington in its regular-season finale on July 15.

Post 48 is coached by Head Coach Michael Yates and assistant coach Michael Gell. Guilford earned regular-season victories against Middletown (3-2, 6-1, 4-3, and 7-6), Meriden (3-2, 9-1), Wallingford (8-2, 11-1, and 2-0), Madison (3-0, 5-2, and 7-1), and East Haddam (12-2, 5-1, 13-5, and 8-2) this year.