Guilford Defeats New London in Opening Round of States

May 30, 2023

The Guilford Grizzlies captured an 11-4 win over the New London Whalers in the opening round of the CIAC, Class L State Tournament, on Tuesday afternoon at GHS Field. The win earned the Grizzlies a 2nd round matchup vs. the Bethel Panthers, who will travel Guilford High School on Wed, 5/31, at 4 pm. Bethel defeated Bloomfield, 14-0, in their opening round game on Tuesday.

The win over New London was not as easy as the score might indicate, as the Whalers held a 4-2 lead heading into the bottom of the 5th inning, before the Grizzlies would score 4 times to pull ahead.

Bryce Meder got the start for Guilford, and was the victim of some infield errors that lead to New London scoring 2 unearned runs in the top of the 1st inning. Then in the top of the 3rd, the Whalers scored 2 more to take a 4-0 lead before the Grizzlies would get things going in their 2nd trip through the lineup. Despite finding himself in an early 4-run deficit, Meder would persevere to earn the win by working 6 innings, surrendering just 4 Whaler hits, 2 earned runs, and recording 7 strikeouts against just 1 walk.

Sacrifice flies by Mike Buccaro in the bottom of the 3rd, and Lucas Ametrano in the bottom of the 4th, would cut the Whaler's lead in half heading into the 5th. Then in the bottom of the 5th, the Grizzlies would finally give Meder a lead to work with. Buccaro reached on a New London infield error and GHS Freshman, Finn Matlosz, was inserted as a pinch runner at 1st. Meder followed with a single to right, and with Carter Williams at the plate, the 2 baserunners pulled off a double-steal that put them both into scoring position for Williams, who lined a 2-RBI single into right-center that tied the game, and a sigh of relief was heard from the Guilford faithful.

With Colin Pompano at the plate, Williams stole 2nd and then continued on to 3rd when the throw from the New London catcher went in to center field. Pompano drew a walk and then Alex Vincent would drop a "safety-squeeze", bunt single, that scored Williams for Guilford's first lead of the game. Cole Morgan-Berry sacrificed Pompano and Vincent into scoring position with 1 out, and Sam Ametrano lined a RBI single to right that scored Pompano for a 6-4 Grizzlies' lead after 5.

In the bottom of the 6th, Guilford would score 5 more, all with 2 outs, as things got messy for the Whalers. A 2-out, Pompano walk, followed by Alex Vincent's 4th hit of the game, followed by Morgan-Berry being hit by a pitch, loaded the bases for Guilford. Sam Ametrano then dropped a pop-up double into short right that landed amidst a trio of Whalers, allowing Pompano & Vincent to score for an 8-4 lead. Another Whaler infield error off the bat of Lucas Ametrano allowed both Morgan-Berry and Sam Ametrano to score Guilford's 9th & 10th runs. Eventually, Lucas Ametrano would score the Grizzlies' 11th run on a wild pitch before the inning would finally come to an end.

Adam Copeland came on to pitch a scoreless 7th, and the Grizzlies officially became one of the 16 teams that would advance to round 2 of the tournament.

Alex Vincent went 4 for 4 in the game with the go-ahead RBI & 2 runs scored, Sam Ametrano went 2 for 3 including a double, with 3 RBI & 2 runs scored, and Carter Williams went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI & a run scored. Besides earning the win on the mound, Bryce Meder also had 2 hits and a run scored in the game. 

As mentioned at the start of the article, up next for Guilford are the #19 ranked Bethel Wildcats, who finished the year with an 11-9 record competing in the Southwest Conference. The game is at 4 pm. this afternoon (Wed. 5/31) at GHS Field. If the Grizzlies can get past the Wildcats, their next Tournament game would be in the quarterfinals on Saturday, June 3rd, time and location are TBD.