Hand Tops Guilford in Extra Innings

Apr 25, 2024

Despite Matt DiNardo's go-ahead homer in the top of the 8th, and a great throw that prevented the game from ending in the 7th, the Hand Tigers rallied in the bottom of the 8th to walk-off a 3-2 victory over the Grizzlies at Hand HS on Wed. Bryce Meder had another outstanding start on the mound for Guilford, holding the Tigers scoreless through the first 6 innings with just a 1-0 lead to work with.

Until the bottom of the 7th inning, the only run scored in the game came on DiNardo's sacrifice fly in the top of the 2nd. In the game, DiNardo went 2 for 4 with a homer while driving in both of the Grizzlies' runs, but his defense was equally impressive in the tightly contested matchup.

In the bottom of the 1st, with runners on 1st and 2nd, a Hand baserunner beat what would have been an inning-ending, fielder's choice at 2nd base. But when the Hand baserunner from 2nd tried to round 3rd and score on the play, DiNardo fired a strike to Guilford catcher, Alex Tafro, to cut down the runner and keep the game scoreless after 1.

Throughout the game, Guilford had multiple opportunities to score but could not come up with the hits they needed, and some nice defensive plays by Hand contributed to this effect. In the top of the 5th, with Grizzly runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out, Hand center-fielder, Tai Nuzzi, made a great diving catch on ball off Colin Pompano's bat, that looked like it was headed for the right-center gap, likely preventing a couple of Guilford runs from scoring.

Meanwhile, Meder held the Tigers scorelss through the next 5 innings before he took the mound in the bottom of the 7th, trying to finish up a complete-game, 1-0 win in his 4th start of the year. With 2 outs and runners at the corners, Hand's Ben Kuja, drove a ball down the left-field line that got past Guilford left fielder, Joe Tafro, allowing the Tigers to tie the game. But as the Hand runner on 1st tried to score the game-winning run on the play, Tafro retrieved the ball and hit cutoff-man DiNardo, who relayed a strike to home where catcher, Alex Tafro, applied the tag and sent the game into extra innings tied at 1. (video)

Then in the top of the 8th, with 1-out, DiNardo stepped to the plate and deposited a 1-0 pitch over the left-field fence to give the Grizzlies a 2-1 lead. As his teammates mobbed him at the plate, the Guilford faithful hoped his heroics would be enough to seal the win for the Grizzlies. (video)

Unfortunately for Guilford, Hand would tie the game, and eventually win it in the bottom of the 8th on Nick Maynard's sac fly, that gave the Tigers their 3-2 victory.

After the tough loss, and now at 7-3, Guilford will try and rebound this Saturday (4/27) when they return to GHS Field for an 11 am. matchup vs. the West Haven Blue Devils. Then on Monday, 4/29, they make a trip down to Quigley Stadium in West Haven, where they are schedule to take on the Notre Dame-WH Green Knights at 3:45 pm.