The Guilford softball team featured a seasoned group of veterans who’d come close to the postseason, along with a bunch of feisty underclass athletes, and that proved the winning combo for the Indians to make their long-awaited return to the playoffs this spring.

Steve Zajac’s club had won either six or seven games in each of the previous three campaigns, narrowly missing out on the eighth victory needed to qualify for states. However, the 2016 script read much better for the Indians as they finished with an 11-9 regular season mark to return to SCC Tournament and the Class L State Tournament for the first time since 2012. In those draws, Guilford was defeated by top-seeded and eventual champion Cheshire in the SCC quarterfinals prior to taking a hard-fought 8-5 loss to Hand in the first round of states.

“Early in the year, I knew we had a good core of kids returning and that we would have to mix in freshmen into the lineup. We wanted to make states and we knew we’d be close, but it all came together for us we and made it,” said Coach Zajac. “In terms of team goals, they exceeded my expectations. For the kids themselves, you want to see them improve day by day and they did that. For example, we got beat by Hand handily twice in the regular season, but we came back and gave them a great game in states.”

Guilford’s mixture of mainstays and newcomers was reflected in the captain’s position that was shared by three girls from different grades. The Indians’ lone senior was Ashley Ignatowksi, who recorded .349 batting average and had 13 RBI. Ignatowski captained the club alongside two teammates who made the All-SCC Hammonasset Division Team in junior Lily Young, who posted .383 average with 16 RBI and 31 hits, plus sophomore Amanda King, who hit .472 to go with six home runs, 25 RBI, 26 runs scored, and 34 hits.

“Ashley brought a lot to the team, both offensively and defensively, especially after being mainly a pitcher the last few years. She did a great job of picking up second base. She is a hard worker that loves playing softball and always pushed the girls to do more,” Zajac said. “Lily had a great work ethic and was always doing things the right way and taking drills seriously. Amanda was more of a vocal person with the team in talking to them in huddles after games.”

The Indians alternated losses from Opening Day until May 2, when they defeated Law 5-1 for their second-straight triumph. While some might see Guilford’s early inconsistency as a detriment, Coach Zajac explained that it simply revealed the character of his players.

“There’s no one game or moment that stands out this year, but we played some tough teams and showed we could play with anyone,” he said. “We alternated wins and losses early, but they never got down on themselves. They were a resilient group that made the season fun by playing hard in practices and games.”

Guilford is graduating a key senior from this year’s squad in Ignatowski, although there’s still plenty of upside heading toward 2017 as the Indians will return several key underclass athletes who all saw tons of time on the field this spring. One of those athletes was sophomore Amanda King, who was Guilford’s starting pitcher. Coach Zajac concluded by saying that this season was one of the most memorable in his 14 years as the Indians’ skipper.

“We are losing a valuable player, but we are hoping that the other eight starters and bench players will continue to pick up their game. We have nine 9 [to] 10 freshmen and many of them play year-round, along with three [to] four sophomores that do the same. If they grow as much as they did during the season, we will have something good next year,” said Zajac. “This year meant a lot to me. I enjoy every year, but to get back to SCCs and states, it was a lot of fun. With the wins they were able to get, they brought back the fun part of it all with looking at seedings and playoff matchups.”

From the Sidelines

Lily Young was selected to play in the Connecticut High School Coaches’ Association Junior All-Star Game on behalf of the Guilford softball team. Additionally, Ashley Ignatowksi was picked to play in the Scholar Athlete Classic.

Other standouts for the Indians this year included freshman Emily Torre, who recorded a .373 batting average and finished second-best on the team in RBI with 17; freshman Jordyn Goldstein, who hit .366 average with 10 RBI and had a team-high three triples; plus freshman Ava Gladwin, who was No. 2 on the team in runs scored with 22 on her way to a .343 average.

Guilford’s wins this season came against Sacred Heart Academy (13-4 on April 9 and 6-3 on April 18), Law (7-6 on April 13 and 5-1 on May 2), Hillhouse (29-2 on April 20 and 13-0 on May 5), Career (11-3 on April 25 and 9-0 on May 11), West Haven (5-0 on April 28), Hamden (7-3 on May 10 and 20-3 on May 20).