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06/14/2018 12:00 AMThe Guilford baseball team made one of its deepest State Tournament runs in years this spring, and the performance of senior captain pitcher Noah Rubino proved a huge reason behind the Indians’ lengthy playoff drive. Noah constantly made it difficult for the opposition to score runs against him, or, in some cases, even get a base hit.
Noah came into the baseball season fresh off the heels of an excellent senior year with the Guilford boys’ basketball team that saw him average 13.4 points and 10.1 rebounds per game en route to earning All-SCC First Team honors and being selected to play in the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Senior All-Star Game. Noah scored 1,066 points and grabbed more than 900 rebounds during his high-school basketball career.
In his fourth year as the baseball team’s ace, Noah finished with a record of 6-2 and allowed just six earned runs and 23 hits with 79 strikeouts in 60 innings pitched on his way to making the All-SCC Team. Noah, who held opponents to a meager .114 batting average, was also part of three no-hitters as he combined with fellow senior Tom Cattaneo on two of them and also threw one on his own. When all was said and done, Noah helped the Indians win 16 games and advance to the Class L State Tournament semifinals.
“My success and the no-hitters have to do with everyone on the team,” says Noah, who posted a 0.70 ERA. “Our infield has been great, and we have a solid catcher and one of the best in the state with Matt Donlan. Our coaches have also done a great job of calling pitches.”
One of the unwritten rules of baseball is that players are not supposed to talk about a no-hitter while it’s in progress. Noah adhered to that philosophy during all three of the no-hitters he was involved in this spring and just focused on the elements he could control.
“I just kept thinking pitch to pitch, rather than thinking about the whole game at once,” says Noah, whose solo no-no came in a 4-0 win versus Lyman Hall on May 14. “I don’t think or talk about a no-hitter. I just worry about executing each pitch I throw.”
Noah was able to refine his off-speed pitches this season, even if that meant throwing them outside of the strike zone on occasion. There were times when Noah pitched on three days’ rest instead of the normal four, but he was always ready to take the ball and face whatever challenge came his way.
“My curveball has been my best pitch, because I’m able to locate it in and out and able to throw it for a strike in the dirt if needed,” Noah says. “You have to be mentally tough at this stage of the sport. You may have to pitch on short rest, so you have to be ready to do what the coaches ask of you. You also can’t get caught up in walks or errors.”
Indians’ Head Coach Brian Hayden says that Noah features every bit of intensity and competitiveness that’s needed from the man at top of the rotation. He adds that Noah displayed nothing but the utmost class every time he took the mound.
“Noah is a special young man. He has everything a coach would want. He is very talented, respected, and liked by not only his teammates, but other coaches across the state. It was an absolute pleasure to coach him, because he gives you 100 percent every day,” Hayden says. “He pitched with confidence and class, and that’s what makes him so special. For as good as he is, he never showed anyone up. I will truly miss being around him every day, and his future is extremely bright. He’s a great baseball player and an even better young man.”
Guilford went on a wild ride that saw the team play to the final week of the high-school baseball season this spring. Noah says the Indians were fueled to go far in states, because they never wanted their run to come to an end. Noah believes his experience with the Indians taught him just as much about what it means to be a stand-up person as it did about being an effective pitcher.
“We have a special group of seniors, and we’ve been playing together since we were about nine years old. We wanted the season to keep going to have that one more time to hang out and practice together,” says Noah. “Guilford baseball is a one-of-a-kind program. It made me a better person. All the coaches made me an all-around better person. They taught us about four core values in family, respect, hard work, and commitment.”