Gryphon Baseball vs. WLU 2012 Gallery
The baseball Gryphs closed out their 2012 regular season with four home games this past week. 

The week began with a visit Wednesday night from McMaster.  Ryan Thompson got the nod for the Gryphs, and he was sharp throwing 6 innings of 1 run baseball.  After going six up and six down at the plate over the first two innings, Guelph exploded in the bottom of the 3rd.  After right fielder Peter Ricciardi and catcher Anthony Interisano cashed runs with singles, Kyle Westwater delivered the big blow of the inning, crushing a 3 run double into the left center gap.  The 7 run inning paced the Gryphons as Brandon Pooleadded two solid innings of relief to help the Gryphs coast to a 12-6 win.  The win tied a single season team record with 13 wins.

Saturday's matchup had a playoff atmosphere as Guelph was fighting to secure the number two seed going into the post season and Laurier needed a pair of wins to grab the 4th and final playoff spot.  Brendan Sorichetti went game one and after a 1st inning run settled in and gave one of his better performances of the season.  Guelph tied it up on a towering solo home run by Interisano.  This one was number 8 on the season which set an OUA single season record since the league went to wood bats in 2000.  The game went to extra innings tied at 2 when a pair of Guelph errors helped Laurier take a 3-2 lead which they were able to hold onto.  Game 2 saw Lucas Borges attempting to get the split for the Gryphs.  As he has been all season, Borges was terrific pitching his 2nd consecutive complete game.  Interisano drove a line drive to right in the 5th that put the Gryphs up 3-2.  Borges got the last 6 batters in a row to secure the win, which set a team record with 14 and locked up the number 2 seed in the playoffs. 
Sunday was a not so pleasant reminder of the element of cold weather that can play a role in October baseball, as Western came to town in a preview of game 1 of the OUA playoffs for the Gryphs.  The Mustangs got to starter Brook Coatsworth in the 1st putting up 4 hits and 4 runs, including a 3 run home run.  Coatsworth settled down nicely and held Western to only one more run over his next 4 innings of work.  Gryphs 3rd baseman Sean Molony got Guelph on the board ripping a solo home run down the left field line.  The home run was the team's league leading 15th of the season, 6 clear of Brock who is second with 9.  The Mustangs added some insurance in the 6th, but Guelph fought back with runs in the 8th and 9th, led by rookies Alex Chow and Benjamin Elliott who each drove in a run.   Despite the late push, Western held on for the 10-5 win in the regular season finale. 

Following the game, coach Matt Griffin spoke highly of the progress the team showed from the pre season to the end of the regular season, but reminded them that, "all the success we just had is in the past and the playoffs is a fresh start that we need to be prepared for." 

The Gryphs have 6 days to prepare for a rematch with the number 3 seed Mustangs next Friday night at Community Park in St Catharine's.  The playoff format is a four team double knock out tournament that will also include the host Brock Badgers and defending champion Toronto Varsity Blues.