GALION, Ohio — Galion’s second-half surge continued Saturday night at Heddleson Field.
Trevor Snyder belted his first home run of the season and knocked in four runs as the Graders stopped Irish Hills 9-6 in Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League action.
Galion (12-25) has won two in a row for just the second time all season and four of its last six. The Graders are 8-6 since snapping an ugly 10-game losing streak in late June.
“We’ve always had this in us. It just took us a little bit,” said center fielder Robbie Jones, who was 1-for-3 and scored a pair of runs. “We want to finish the season as strong as possible. We all have a goal to be playing our best baseball at the end of the season. Right now we’re doing pretty well so we hope to continue that streak.”
Mound Work: Galion starter Chase Boyer went seven strong innings to improve to 2-1. The right-hander gave up four earned runs on seven hits while striking out four.
“We’ve gotten really good starting pitching,” Galion manager Taylore Baker said. “In the beginning of the season we weren’t making good pitches when the other team had guys in scoring position. Now we’re making those pitches.”
Lady Luck: The Graders led 5-4 before scoring four runs in the home half of the seventh on a pair of unorthodox hits. Kevin Schrock was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice by A.J. Cecil. Jones followed with a ground ball toward Irish Hills first baseman Greg Ludwig. The ball took a funny hop and eluded Ludwig for a double, allowing Schrock to score. Later in the inning, Evan Lee hit a high chopper off the plate toward Irish Hills reliever Cliffton Landess. As he backpedaled, Landess stumbled over the mound and Lee was safe with an RBI-infield single.
“When things are going your way and you’re playing good baseball, you get those breaks,” Baker said. “It works the other way, too. When you are struggling, those breaks work against you.”
Finish Line: The Graders have just five games remaining. Gallon’s final two home games, against North Division-leading Lima, are Thursday and Friday.
“The team’s focus has been completely different during the second half of the season,” Baker said. “They see now that they can play with anybody in the league and win some of these close games. They want to finish strong.”
