Lembo-Frey Sprints to 200 Title at Class MM Meet; Guilford Baseball Loses in Class L Quarters
Boys’ Outdoor Track
Jordan Lembo-Frey captured the crown in the 200-meter dash to help the Guilford boys’ outdoor track team finish tied for seventh place at the Class MM State Championship. The Indians scored 33 points and tied with Hillhouse and East Lyme at the state meet, which was held at Willow Brook Park in New Britain.
Lembo-Frey won the 200 by running a time of 22.52 seconds, defeating runner-up Alex Pratcher III of Law (22.61). Guilford’s 4x400 relay of Sam Sessions, Will Smith, Corey Gambardella, and Lembo-Frey placed second (3:26.22) to Weston (3:25.34), and its 4x800 relay of Smith, Finn Davidson, Joe Walters, and Gambardella finished third (8:12.50).
Also, Davidson finished fifth for the 1,600 (4:27.45), Gambardella was seventh in the 800 (2:01.02), Josh Stern raced to seventh for the 3,200 (10:10.08), and Corey Sondak was eighth in the 100 (11.64).
Girls’ Outdoor Track
The Indians finished tied for fourth with Law by totaling 46 points at the Class MM State Championship on May 31.
Meredith Bloss was the runner-up in the 1,600 (5:09.98) to Tolland’s Katherine Deloreto (5:06.09), while Jacqui Guerra finished third (5:12.10) in the event. Bloss was also second in the 3,200 (11:13.94) to Hayley Collins of Tolland (11:02.13), with Guerra finishing fourth (11:34.53). Elissa Strand finished fourth in the 800 (2:25.11) and Chloe Shaw followed in fifth (2:25.16).
Guilford’s 4x800 relay of Julia Esposito, Shaw, Kelsi Putnam, and Strand was the runner-up (9:37.49) to Avon (9:36.39). The 4x400 relay of Shaw, Strand, Jess Bohan, and Guerra finished in seventh (4:15.79).
Baseball
Guilford earned two wins in the Class L State Tournament before losing to Foran in the quarterfinals.
The 9th-seeded Indians began the Class L State Tournament on May 30 by hosting No. 24 E.O. Smith in the first round and prevailed 6-3. Noah Rubino pitched a complete game with 11 strikeouts and allowed one earned run. John Luke Cianciolo went 3-for-3, plus Brody Ulrich had the go-ahead RBI single.
“I thought we did a great job of controlling our emotions today. We got down early and dealt with some adversity, but these boys stuck to the process and Noah made big pitches when we needed him most,” said Head Coach Brian Hayden. “John Luke was huge for us offensively, [and] Brody and Evan delivered great at-bats, and [Sean Kellaher] gave us another big hit to push the lead. I can’t say enough about Brody, who we had been DH’ing for during the last nine games. He never hung his head, kept working hard, and today it paid off for him. Noah was battling some rust coming off his injury, but he showed how much heart he has today. I thought he was great. We told our guys we are on a one-day contract and today we are fortunate to get another day of baseball.
Guilford then took down No. 25 Bristol Central, 7-1, in the second round the next day. Logan Driscoll, Ulrich, and Cianciolo each had two hits, while Jack Strand pitched six frames, struck out nine, and allowed no earned runs.
“I was really proud of our guys effort today. They showed up with a purpose and, even after we gave them a run in the second inning, they answered right back,” said Hayden. “Jack Strand looked like a senior on the mound today. He was focused on the game-plan and executing one pitch at a time. Offensively, we got great production from the bottom of our lineup. Logan Driscoll gave us the go-ahead single to put us up 2-1 and started the two-run rally in the sixth with a double. Brody and Evan had great at-bats all day and John Luke continues to be very productive for us. These guys understand what they want to do at the plate and, even if they lose their approach at times, they listen to the coaches and are doing a great job of making adjustments. We continue to preach the one-day contract, and they all buy in because they love playing for one another.”
Facing No. 32 Foran in the quarterfinals on June 3, the Indians took a 10-8 loss to finish at 15-9 on the season. Logan Hitchcock had three hits, including two home runs, with five RBI in the game. Foran scored nine runs between the sixth and seventh innings to come away with the win.
"I thought we came to field with a purpose today. We were focused and played great for six innings. I've been around baseball long enough to know the last three outs are the hardest three to get and today our guys learned that lesson the hard way. Give Foran credit. After they get the home run to make it 8-5, we had a chance to make a play and we didn't, and they didn't look back from there," Coach Hayden said. "I told our guys after the game that they shouldn't hang their heads. They put Guilford back on the map, baseball wise. We had hundreds of people come out and support them today, all because they play the game the right way and they are good kids on and off the field. They created a winning culture that will last and they should be proud of themselves. We just wanted more for our four seniors who gave us everything they could."
Boys’ Tennis
The Indians saw plenty of strong performances in the Class L State Championship last week.
In the singles bracket, Jeff Eng reached the third round with a 6-3, 6-3 first round win and then a 6-0, 6-2 second round triumph. He then took a 6-4, 6-2 loss to John Cassone of Wilton. Alex Kagan won 6-0, 6-1 in the first round and then lost a 6-1, 6-0 contest in the second round. David Mason won 6-1, 6-1 in the first round, after which he lost by a 6-2, 6-2 score in his second round match. Eric Mastalerz took a 6-0, 6-1 loss in the first round.
For the doubles tournament, Gianni Esposito and Sam Inchalik reached the third round. They first beat Fairfield Ludlowe’s Gregory Arrigo and Kevin Schroeder 6-4, 6-1. Then in the second round, the duo bested Jash Mirani and Parsa Pazooki from Farmington, 6-0, 6-2. After that, they lost to 6th-seeded Tommy Gillo and Alessandro Sulpizi of New Canaan, 7-5, 6-0. Isaac Freeman and Michael Hooker lost in the first round, 6-2, 7-5. Noah Horton and Andrew Inchalik took a first round defeat by the score of 6-2, 6-2.
Boys’ Lacrosse
The Indians competed in the Class M State Tournament last week and earned an opening round victory before taking a loss to finish with a record of 9-9.
Nineteenth-ranked Guilford traveled to No. 14 Wolcott for a qualifying round matchup and prevailed 18-2 on May 27. Facing No. 3 Weston in the first round on May 31, the Indians took a 15-7 defeat.
Girls’ Lacrosse
The Indians won their opening contest of the Class M State Tournament and then lost their next game to conclude their campaign.
Sixteenth-seeded Guilford began the Class M State Tournament with a 17-7 win over No. 17 RHAM in the qualifying round on May 26. Then in the first round on May 30 against top seed East Lyme, the Indians took a 19-4 defeat to finish the year at 9-9 overall.
Golf
The Indians closed up their regular season with a match against East Haven last week. Guilford faced East Haven on May 31 and prevailed 167-184 to finish at 5-12 for the year.