BELLVILLE, Ohio — Clear Fork starter Mitch Dulin let his defense do the the dirty work.
A freshman right-hander, Dulin scattered nine hits as the Colts manufactured a 4-0 win over Galion on a chilly Monday afternoon at Clear Fork High School.
Clear Fork (2-1) gunned down the potential game-tying run at the plate in the third inning and turned double plays in the fifth and sixth innings to short-circuit Galion rallies.
“Our defense is our strong point,” second baseman Ricky Bartrum said. “Our pitchers just need to throw strikes and let the defense do its job.”
Bartrum did his part Monday.
With the bases loaded and one out in the fifth, Galion’s Ryan Talbott hit a sharp ground ball to Bartrum, who tagged the runner on his way to second before throwing to first baseman Shane Klenk for the inning-ending twin-killing. With one on and nobody out in the sixth, Bartrum ranged to his right to snare Matt Hardy’s hard-hit ground ball before stepping on the bag and relaying to Klenk.
“We haven’t had a middle infield that can do what they’ve been doing in quite a few years,” veteran Clear Fork skipper Rusty Staab said. “Ricky did a great job at second and Hunter (Boyer) has been doing a great job at short. If the pitchers can start buying in to throwing strikes so your defense can play … then we’ve got the battle done already.
“Our defense is there. It’s just that our defense can’t score runs for us.”
Small Ball: Clear Fork managed just five hits off hard-luck loser Hardy. The Colts scored a run in the first without the benefit of a base hit and added two more in the third on a pair of RBI-singles that barely reached the outfield grass. Clear Fork’s final run in the fifth came on a walk, a stolen base and a pair of groundouts.
“Baseball is that funny game where it’s not how you hit it, it’s where it falls,” Galion coach Phil Jackson said. “They really did a great job of capitalizing every time they were on base.”
All five of Clear Fork’s hits were singles and two were bunt base hits. The hardest-hit ball of the afternoon was Thomas Staab’s sacrifice fly to center in the bottom of the first.
“That has been the story of our season. Our offense has been non-existent,” Rusty Staab said. “Flares that fell in, that is the start of our season.”
Hazard Pay: Clear Fork leadoff hitter Caleb Merendino was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the first and eventually scored on Thomas Staab’s sacrifice fly. Merendino was hit by a pitch again in the third and scored on Luke Clark’s seeing-eye single to right.
Solid Start: Garrett Kuns had three hits for the Tigers (0-1). Mitchell Dyer had a pair of singles and Josh Eckert had two bunt base hits.
“We’re young, so you’re going to see a lot of improvement with us. We’ve got a lot to work on, but we’re going to be OK,” Jackson said. “I’m not too disappointed. I’m usually much madder after a loss.”
Into the Fire: The Colts open Ohio Cardinal Conference play with a home-and-home series against Ashland on Tuesday and Wednesday. Clear Fork hosts the Arrows on Tuesday.
“We’d like to be that Cinderella,” Staab said. “No one is talking about us. They’re talking about Lexington and Madison. Hopefully we can stay under the radar.”
