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07/28/2018 12:00 AMThe Guilford Senior American Legion baseball team traveled an exciting path in order to qualify for the State Tournament this summer. Although Guilford saw its season come to a close in states last week, Post 48 certainly made the most of their berth by capturing a few victories in the bracket.
Post 48 had finished in a tie for fourth place with Meriden in Zone 3 after posting a record of 14-14 during the regular season, forcing a one-game playoff between the teams to determine the final postseason spot from Zone 3. Guilford took the game by a 4-3 final in nine innings on July 20 after plating two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for a walk-off win and a bid into states.
Guilford started off the double-elimination Regional section of the bracket by upsetting Zone 4 winner Stamford, 2-1, on July 21. Guilford then posted its second win of the tournament by grabbing a 6-5 victory over Zone 5 runner-up Naugatuck the following day.
On July 26, Post 48 was eliminated from the State Tournament when it dropped a pair of contests against Naugatuck at Naugatuck High School. Guilford needed one more win to advance to the Super Regional round of the tourney, but Post 48 took a 7-1 defeat to Naugatuck that forced the teams to play another game to decide who would advance. Naugatuck won that game by a 3-2 score, as Post 48 finished its season with an overall record of 17-16.
While it was a tough ending for Guilford, Head Coach Michael Yates said that his athletes can hang their heads high after helping the team go on a nice run in the last week of the season.
“It’s like the old saying goes, ‘You want to get hot at the right time,’ and we did that,” said Yates. “I was very pleased with our lineup, and the pitching was great.”
When Guilford beat Naugatuck on July 22, Matt McGrath pitched 3.1 innings to earn the win on the mound, while Gray Stephens hit two doubles in the victory. Kevin Cargos also pitched for Post 48, who saw Casey Johnson get the two-out save. Guilford held a 6-3 lead heading to the seventh inning, when Naugatuck loaded the bases with one out, before Johnson shut the door. John Petonito had three hits, including what held up as the game-winning RBI. Matt Donlan dropped down a pair of sacrifice bunts for Coach Yates’s club.
“You have to tip your cap to the Naugatuck lineup. Every time we started to pull away, they came right back,” said Yates. “Gray Stephens was phenomenal in the leadoff spot.”
Coach Yates said that Guilford’s pitchers did an excellent job of finding their locations around the plate this season. Yates added that having a reliable catcher like Donlan also proved a huge boost to Post 48’s hurlers.
“They are guys who attack the strike zone,” Yates said. “Matt has been huge with calling games. The pitchers trust him and the pitches he gives. He also gives us protection when guys get on.”
Post 48 also sported a lineup full of veteran hitters who stayed disciplined in the batter’s box. Coach Yates said their poise at the plate trickled down to the younger athletes and helped Guilford put together a memorable stretch run of the 2018 season.
“With the younger guys that are new to me, I’m big on hitting philosophy and how to approach at-bats. The older guys are doing a great job with that. The younger guys have caught onto it quickly, especially with wood bats, and hitting is contagious,” Yates said. “We just got hot at the right time. We won the tight game against Meriden in extras, which gave us momentum into Stamford. You could see the energy and confidence in our dugout, and it was a great environment.”