Thanks to head coach Gene Baker for his informative and entertaining summary of Guilford's fall baseball season.
Game 1 Averett @ Guilford
On "Get Your Feet Wet Day", September 12, Averett outscored Guilford, 11-7, in a 16-inning day of baseball at McBane Field. Freshmen Andrew Duffy, Gabe Staub and Zach Whicker each banged out their first collegiate hits, and returning pitchers, Chad Coward, Josh Wolfe, Jeff Joyce, Tim Lucason, Chris Millsap, Jason Davis, and K C Chambers all worked scoreless mound stints. The Quakers displayed the first wood-bat baseball at McBane Field in quite some time. Swinging the wood bats is designed to help prepare Guilford hitters for the spring season, despite tilting the table in favor of our aluminum-wielding opponents in the fall.
Game 2 Surry CC @ Guilford
In an overnight reversal of fortunes, the hitters took over on Sunday, September 13, as Surry out-slugged the Quakers, 30-23, in an 18-inning scrimmage. Freshmen Justin Bouldin, Zach Whicker, and Rich Nossel rapped out multiple-hit performances, and first-year second baseman Chris Francis slapped his first at McBane Field in the slugfest. Guilford stole 17 of 21 bases, instituting a new passion and technique that seems destined to challenge the school stolen base record in the spring. Despite the gaudy score, Guilford pitching looked solid, with 17 of Surry's runs coming in two innings. Unlike Saturday, the defense displayed porosity usually reserved for a fish net, and will demand a great deal of attention in the upcoming week of practice.
Game 3 Guilford @ Montreat (NAIA)
In the first game of the Montreat Wood Bat Tournament, the Quakers made only one error, but it led to three unearned runs, and a three-run, fourth-inning home run sealed the deal, as Guilford dropped game one to Montreat, 7-3. All in all a well-played game, as freshmen Steve Danis, Jason Wynn, and Nate Gutridge joined the hit parade, while four Guilford pitchers combined to limit the to four earned runs in the Quakers' first game in the mountain altitude.
Game 4 Guilford vs. Wilkes CC @ Montreat
In a throwback to the 1998 Quakers, Guilford overcame a 7-2 deficit to defeat Wilkes, 9-8, in game 2 of pool play at the Montreat Tournament. Zach Whicker continued his hot hitting and struck the key blow, a three-run fifth-inning double, and also stole a base. Eric Pelletier earned the win in relief for Guilford and Chad Coward picked up his first save of the fall.
Game 5 Guilford vs. Surry CC @ Montreat
Guilford scored the first three and the final three runs earning a 6-6 tie and clinching the number-two seed in pool play at Montreat. Bryan Probst's sacrifice fly beat sundown in the bottom of the fifth. KC Chambers started and threw 2 scoreless innings and Anthony Ramakis tossed a scoreless 5th. In the three- game, 19-inning day of pool play, Guilford committed just four errors, and earned the right to play the third seed in pool B of the tournament. With two hits on the day, junior Kevin Moore increased his offensive production to 5 for 12 for the fall.
Game 6 Guilford vs. Young-Harris JC @ Montreat
In perhaps the best played game of the tournament, Y-H defeated Guilford 4-2 in the first game of elimination at Montreat. The loss sent the Quakers home with a fifth-place tie as all four teams in pool A fell to their pool B opponents. Chad Coward scattered nine hits after making two relief appearances the day before and worked out of trouble in the first and seventh innings. Guilford managed only four hits of its own from Moore, Whicker, Gutridge, and senior Andy Reed.
Game 7 Guilford @ Greensboro
Jeff Joyce returned to form throwing five scoreless innings before relinquishing the mound to freshman Joe Dooley, who picked up his first collegiate save, as Guilford nipped Greensboro 1-0 in the first game of the Greensboro Fall Tournament. The Quakers scored their only run when Gabe Staub crossed the plate during a rundown between first and second with one out in the fifth. For the fifth straight game, Guilford flashed the leather, committing only one error, and that came on the final play of the game. Dooley's errant pick-off throw to first was retrieved by defensive replacement Andy Reed who fired a perfect throw to Kevin Moore who applied the tag to Greensboro's runner trying to go from first to third with two out in the seventh.
Game 8 Guilford vs. Hampden-Sydney @ Greensboro Tournament
Guilford fell victim to a six-run fourth inning in a matchup of ODAC adversaries. Not wanting to tip their hand, the Quakers shuffled the lineup, while HSC threw their ace in turning back Guilford, 11-3. John Ludington's two-run single in the second kept Guilford close, but the metal vs. wood disparity finally took its toll in fourth. Eric Pelletier, Josh Wolfe, and Chris Butcher pitched the final three innings, allowing just one run in a game in which the Quakers' defense continued its solid play, committing just one error.
Game 9 Guilford vs. Piedmont (NAIA) @ Greensboro Tournament
Piedmont scored 2 one-out runs in the seventh to defeat Guilford, 7-6. The Quakers battled back form a 5-3 deficit with 2 runs in the 6th, including a home run by Zach Whicker and a go-ahead sacrifice fly by Bryan Probst in the top of the seventh. Three base hits and two walks (one intentional) did the Quakers in, despite the employment of a five-man infield with the bases loaded and the winning run on third in the last inning.
