Sam Guerrini stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning April 10 at Mayfield with two outs and the bases loaded in a tie game.
The first offering to Mayfield’s center fielder buzzed over the upper inside edge of Guerrini’s batter’s box. Guerrini’s snap reaction prevented the ball from drilling him in the upper body — or chin.
When another offering strayed too far inside, Guerrini held his ground, absorbed the sting of a fastball in 40-degree conditions and gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game, 5-4, as they walked off winners against Madison.
After Lane Calvert’s first pitch of the at-bat brushed Guerrini off the plate, the Wildcats’ senior knew what he’d do if another pitch came too far inside.
“It’s in my blood,” Guerrini said. “My brother (Ray) got hit by a lot of pitches, I get hit by a lot of pitches. I’m just used to it. If he came inside again, I’m just going to take it.”
Guerrini finished 1-for-2 with two RBI, a walk and the game-deciding hit-by-pitch. Alongside shortstop Joe Trivison, the seniors are the only regulars back from last year’s district runner-up team.
As Coach D.J. Rapposelli incorporates new starters into his lineup, he looks to Trivison and Guerrini to help maintain standards.
“I have all the confidence in the world they’re gritty enough to get the job done,” Rapposelli said. “I expect more from them out of the gate.”
Mayfield trailed from the first inning on when Madison took a 3-0 lead. Joey Smith led off the game with a double and Kyle Grafton scored with an opposite-field single. Cade Wakim and Brendan Snopel drew bases-loaded walks off Mayfield left-hander Mark Manfredi to open an early lead.
Guerrini helped Mayfield gain momentum in the third inning with an over-the-shoulder catch of Owen Myers’ drive to the fence in left-center field.
“I’ve been in a slump a little bit lately,” Guerrini said. “I got out to end the half-inning before. I was out there made like, ‘if any ball comes my way, I’m catching it’ so I had to track it down.”
The Wildcats scored their first run in the fourth when Chuck Heil’s groundout sent Joe Trivison home from third. Jimmy Gaudio’s sacrifice fly brought Mayfield within one, 3-2. Wakim stretched the Blue Streaks’ lead back to two, 4-2, with his RBI fielder’s choice in the sixth.
Guerrini cut the deficit back to two with an RBI single in the home half. Heil drove in his second run to tie the teams, 4-4, in the seventh before Guerrini stepped into the batter’s box with the game on the line.
Although Rapposelli would like to see the Wildcats start games stronger, he was encouraged by their ability to overcome a deficit — especially in an unconventional fashion.
“They’re always going to be in it,” Rapposelli said. “If we can do our job defensively and on the mound, it’s just a matter of hitting the ball.”
Madison fell at Mayfield after the Wildcats also defeated the Blue Streaks, 9-4, a day earlier. In that game, Madison and Mayfield were tied, 4-4, before the Wildcats pulled away in the later innings.
Coach B.J. Titman wants the Blue Streaks to build off their positive sequences in the past two games.
“Hopefully their takeaway is (Mayfield) is universally thought of as the best team in our league,” Titman said. “We can play with them when we play the kind of ball we’re capable of playing.”