The Gryphons were a team that entered the season with high expectations coming off of a 14-7 second place finish last year.  A 4-4 start plagued by inconsistent pitching and streaky hitting wasn't the way the Gryphons hoped to come out of the gates in 2013, but the last 10 days have shown what a very talented team is capable of when they execute.
 
Things started to turn around last week when the Toronto Varsity Blues came to Hastings Stadium after having swept Guelph in Toronto two days earlier. The Gryphs fell behind 5-0 in the contest, but woke up in the 2nd inning with a remarkable nine run 2^nd inning. That inning changed the course of the game and also began to change the course of the season for Guelph. The Gryphs kept hitting and went on to score 16 runs in a 16- 9 victory.
 
After a rain out Saturday, Sunday meant a long bus ride to Kingston to play three games against Queens. The first was a conclusion of the game that began in Guelph on September 11th.  The Gryphs asserted themselves right off the bat with Peter Ricciardi and Justin Interisano both hitting home runs in the first at bats of the afternoon. That would be a sign of things to come on the day for Guelph, as the offence was simply explosive. Interisano homered a second time and Matt Forer added a grand slam home run and Wes Romak was on fire collecting multiple hits in all three games. In total Guelph put up 35 runs in 15 innings and with strong pitching from starters Stephen Fried, Brendan Sorichetti and Lucas Borges the Gryphons took all three games in convincing fashion.
 
Riding the momentum of Sundays sweep, Guelph was on the road again Wednesday for a tough test against the league leading Brock Badgers. After giving up two runs in the 1st, Fried settled in and was exceptional pitching 71/3 innings and leaving with a 5-2 lead. Outfielder Joseph Ciccia had an rbi single in a four run inning that put the Gryphs on top. Brock cut the lead to 5-3 and loaded the bases with nobody out in the 9th. Guelph turned to veteran closer Kevin Lagerquist who got a ground ball that rookie shortstop Mitchell Pike turned into a beautiful double play ball. Lagerquist then dug deep and struck out the final batter of the game to secure the 5-4 win.
 
There was little time to celebrate as the 8-4 Waterloo Warriors came to Guelph for a double header the following day. Sorichetti was dominant on game one, but the bats could not get going to lend him much run support.  The game went to extra innings where the Gryphs finally broke through as 3rd baseman Sean Molony came through with a walk off single in extra innings to give Guelph a 2-1 victory.  Game 2 was also a nail biter and like the 1st game needed extras to decide a winner. Guelph trailed 4-2 with only two innings to play.  Interisano began the 6th inning by hitting a towering  home run to deep right field giving him a league leading 6 on the season. Down to their final out in the 7th, Ricciardi was hit by a pitch and proceeded to steal 2nd. Wade Sage hit a ball in the hole that Waterloo threw away scoring Ricciardi and sending the game to extras again.  Forer led off the bottom of the 8th with a walk.  Interisano and Romak were walked intentionally setting the stage for center fielder Kevin Winters. Winters lined the first pitch he saw into deep left and gave the Gryphs their 7th win in a row.  Jordan Abram pitched well and Alex Chow pitched two shutout innings of relief to get the win.  
 
The Gryphons took over first place with the win and look to continue their run as they travel to Talbot Park in Toronto on Sunday to play two against the Ryerson Rams.