Guilford Wins Over Cheshire at Dunkin' Park

Apr 15, 2023

Despite seeing their 3-0 lead evaporate in the bottom of the 3rd, the Guilford Grizzlies surged ahead for an entertaining 7-3 win over the Cheshire Rams at Hartford's Dunkin' Park on Friday. Guilford scored 5 of their 7 runs on 2-out, RBI hits, while their pitching did not allow a single earned run on the afternoon.

Guilford got off to a fast start, scoring 3 times in the top of the 1st inning on 2-out RBI singles by Juniors Bryce Meder & Colin Pompano. The game began with Lucas Ametrano being hit by a pitch, one of 4 Guilford batters that would be struck in the game, followed by a Sam Ametrano walk. A few batters later, Meder lined a single to center scoring Lucas Ametrano for the game's first run. (video) Lucas Deshefy walked to load the bases and Pompano singled to right, scoring Sam Ametrano & Meder to give the Grizzlies a 3-0 lead after their first turn at bat. (video)

Lucas Deshefy was Guilford's starting pitcher in the game, and worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the first on just 6 pitches that included a strikeout. Deshefy pitched the first 3 innings and gave up just 2 hits and 0 earned runs in the start, although Cheshire would tie the game on 3 unearned runs before he left the mound.

In the bottom of the 2nd, Cheshire cut Guilford's lead to 3-2 on back-to-back sacrifice flies by Michael Simeone & Ryan Murphy. Then in the bottom of the 3rd, Cheshire tied the game when Drew Vagts singled and eventually came around to score on a passed ball.

In the top of the 4th, Guilford would answer back by taking the lead for good. GHS Senior, Alex Vincent, was hit by a pitch while leading off the 4th, and moved to 2nd on a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt by fellow Senior, Jack Farrah. A few batters later, Sam Ametrano would hit a hard ground ball that hit the bag at first and continued down the right field line for a 2-out, RBI double, scoring Vincent for a 4-3 Grizzly lead. (video)

In the bottom of the 4th, Bryce Meder took the mound and was assigned with protecting Guilford's 1-run lead. He retired the Rams in order and would get an insurance run to work with in the bottom of the 5th. Similar to the previous inning, Michael Buccaro would be hit by a pitch leading off the bottom of the 5th for the Grizzlies. 2 outs later, Colin Pompano would draw a walk that moved Buccaro to 2nd before Guilford Head Coach, Nick Merullo, inserted the speedy Cole Morgan-Berry to pinch run for Buccaro. With Alex Vincent at the plate, a wild pitch allowed both Morgan-Berry and Pompano to advance, but as Morgan-Berry attempted to round 3rd and score, he collided with the Cheshire third-baseman. The home-plate umpire then ruled obstruction on the play, which allowed Morgan-Berry to score and gave Guilford a 5-3 lead.

What ended up being Cheshire's last real threat of a comeback came in the bottom of the 5th, when back-to-back singles by Kyle Cyr & Dan Margolies, followed by a Guilford infield error, loaded the bases for the Rams with 2-outs and their cleanup hitter coming to bat. But Meder was able to get a strikeout that ended the Cheshire rally and maintained Guilford's 2-run lead. (video)

The Grizzlies would score 2 more in the top of the 6th, taking a firm, 4-run lead with just 6 outs left for a Ram comeback. Jack Farrah lead off with a single to left, before he was replaced at first by Lucas Ametrano who grounded into a fielder's choice. Ametrano then advance all the way to 3rd when a Cheshire pickoff attempt got away down the first-base line. With the Cheshire infield drawn in, Sam Ametrano lofted a ball just over the Ram shortstop's head for a RBI single that made it 6-3 Grizzlies. (video) Ametrano moved to 2nd on a groundout, then stole 3rd before Mike Buccaro stroked a single to left, the Grizzlies' 4th, 2-out, run-scoring hit in the game that gave them a 7-3 lead. (video)

Only 1 Cheshire batter reached base on an infield error in the 6th & 7th inning. Bryce Meder's fastball was hitting the high 80's on the Dunkin' Park radar gun, as he recorded 3 strikeouts while getting the final 6 outs and sealing the win for the Griz.

Meder finished his 4 shutout innings of work with 6 strikeouts while surrendering just 2 Cheshire hits. Sam Ametrano lead the Guilford offense with 2 hits including a double, a stolen base, 2 runs scored and 2 RBI. Colin Pompano had a hit and 2 RBI, and both Mike Buccaro and Meder had RBI hits as well.

Now that Guilford has wrapped up their difficult 4 games in 5 days stretch, they will enjoy a weekend off after a 5-2 start to the season. On Monday, 4/17, they are scheduled to play the Wilbur Cross Governors down at New Haven's Rice Field at 3:45 pm., before they play their first home game after 4 conecutive road trips, against Notre Dame-WH at GHS Field on Wednesday, 4/19 - a 4 pm. start.