Guilford Tops Fairfield Prep 9-7

Apr 20, 2024

Joe Tafro's grand slam in the bottom of the 5th turned out to be the difference in Guilford's 9-7 win over the Fairfield Prep Jesuits on Friday afternoon at GHS Field. Bryce Meder earned his 2nd win of the year, pitching 5 innings while allowing just 1 earned run, and GHS freshman, Cade Rinehart, held off the Jesuits by pitching the final 2 frames in the Grizzlies' win.

The Grizzlies would strike first in the game when Lucas Deshefy's RBI single scored Lucas Ametrano, giving Guilford a 1-0 lead after 1. (video)

Meder would get through the first 2 innings without allowing a run, then in the bottom of the 2nd, his team would score 4 more staking him to a 5-0 lead. With runners on 1st & 2nd, Ametrano pushed a ball past the Prep 2nd baseman to score Joe Tafro for a 2-0 Guilford lead. Mike Buccaro would step to the plate, and a wild pitch during his at-bat allowed Alex Tafro to score from 3rd. Buccaro would then rip a double into the right-field corner, scoring Ametrano for a 4-0 Grizzly lead. (video) Then Meder helped his own cause when he grounded a single past the Jesuit first baseman, scoring Buccaro for Guilford's 5th run of the game.

Prep would finally break through against Meder scoring 3 in the top of the 3rd on a Grizzly infield error and RBI singles by JJ Schachinger & Cooper Rotondo.

Neither team would score in the 4th, and Meder would finish his day on the mound after holding the Jesuits scoreless in the top of the 5th, with his team holding a 5-3 lead heading into the bottom half of the frame.

In the bottom of the 5th, Meder and Colin Pompano started the inning with back-to-back infield singles, before Matt DiNardo's sacrifice bunt was fielded by the Prep pitcher, who attempted to get Meder at 3rd, but his throw was not in time and the bases were loaded with Grizzlies. Up next was GHS senior, Joe Tafro who drove a 1-0 pitch over the left-field fence for a grand slam, and a 9-3 Guilford lead after 5. (video)

The blow turned out to be the deciding factor of the game, as Prep would fight back to score 4 more in the final 2 innings, but would come up short when Cade Rinehart, who relieved Meder in the 6th, got the final out on a strikeout.

The win pushes Guilford's record to 6-2 on the year, and should help the team maintain its top-5 ranking in GameTimeCT's weekly poll. Up next are 2 road games beginning Mon., 4/22, when they travel to Cheshire for a 4 pm. matchup with the Rams. Then on Wed., 4/24, they will play their 2nd game vs. rival, Daniel Hand, at Hand HS - a 3:45 pm first pitch.