GALION, Ohio — There was laughter coming out of the home dugout and smiling faces gathered along the third base line during pregame festivities.
Baseball was fun again for the Galion Graders.
The Graders, who snapped an ugly 10-game losing streak Thursday, may have dropped a 5-2 decision to visiting Irish Hills on Friday at Heddleson Field, but manager Taylore Baker liked the renewed fire his team has shown the past few days.
“There is a different energy. You can see it and you can feel it,” Baker said. “Everybody has everybody else’s back right now. They are playing for each other.”
Tough Luck: Galion starter Mark Delas (0-4) gave up four earned runs on four hits in seven innings. Delas allowed an RBI triple in the second when right fielder Tyler Cowles made a diving attempt on a sinking liner off the bat of Jimmy Scott. The ball skipped under Cowles’ glove and rolled all the way to the wall, allowing Evan Nelson to score the game-tying run. Scott would score on a groundout by Carsten Dambeck.
Irish Hills added two more runs in the seventh, taking advantage of a Galion throwing error, a wild pitch and an RBI-single by Andrew Dayfield.
“Mark competed well to keep us in the ball game and give us a shot,” Baker said. “Our defense did a great job overall. That ball we dove for didn’t work out, but we limited the damage for the most part.”
Irish Hills starter Jordan Grosjean (3-1) was up to the task, limiting Galion to two runs in seven innings. Grosjean struck out five and walked one.
“Their guy threw really well,” Baker said. “He kept us off-balance and we were unable to take advantage of some opportunities.”
Settling In: Clear Fork product Ridge Winand had three of Galion’s seven hits. The Ohio State redshirt sophomore finished a home run shy of the cycle. He doubled in the fourth, tripled and scored in the seventh and singled in the ninth.
“I’m feeling a lot more comfortable at the plate,” Winand said. “I’m just trying to hit the ball hard and the hits will come.”
Small Steps: Galion (5-20) has 17 games remaining. The Graders are 13 games behind GLSCL North Division-leading Lima.
“The last three games we’ve played have been quality games,” Baker said. “We’re playing well. Now we need some things to go our way to get us over the hump in the second half.”
