MADISON TOWNSHIP — Ray Peterson has been around baseball long enough to know you don’t tinker with a team on a hot streak.
And Peterson’s Galion-Mansfield American Legion team is on just such a streak.
The Legionnaires won their seventh straight game Wednesday evening at Madison High School, rallying for a 6-5 win over Prospect in Buckeye American Legion League action. After a sluggish 2-6 start to the season, Post 243 improved to 9-6 overall and 4-4 in Buckeye League play.
The winning streak included five victories at last weekend’s Lake Erie Classic, hosted by Port Clinton and played at Fremont St. Joseph’s Nader Field. Galion-Mansfield won the championship, stopping Johnny Appleseed Baseball Club 4-3 in the title game.
“We were 2-6 and we finally came together,” Peterson said. “That first win at the Lake Erie Classic against Port Clinton got them turned around.
“That was a great win for us. That changed their attitude and we quit making five or six errors a game. It was just the turning point and we took off.”
After opening the Lake Erie Classic with a 9-0 win over Port Clinton, Post 243 folloed with a 7-0 win over Newberry, Mich. Galion-Mansfield pitcher Bo Curvin, a recent Madison graduate, threw a no-hitter in the win.
“It was my first one ever,” said Curvin, who flirted with a no-hitter in a win over Mansfield Senior during the high school season (he allowed one hit in Madison’s run rule-shortened victory). “It felt good.”
The right-handed Curvin is one of six Rams on Post 243’s roster. Other Madison players include left-handed pitcher Blake Lampert, infielder Alec Gowitzka, catcher Kyle Galco, pitcher and first baseman Josh Smith and pitcher Michael Penney, the Richland Source Pitcher of the Year for the high school season.
“Pitching was supposed to be our strong point, but we struggled early in the season,” assistant coach Rob Siwek said. “It’s starting to come around now. We’re getting better.”
Post 243 also has a strong Clear Fork contingent. Austin and Chase Baker, Travis Born, Hunter Evans and Ridge Winand all are regulars for Peterson.
“We have a good mix of kids,” Peterson said. “They all get along. This group has very good chemistry.”
Other players on the roster include Lexington’s Logan Bastin, Brody Basilone and Adam Johnson. 2013 Lex graduate, Bastin recently finished his senior season at Capital. The third baseman appeared in 31 games, batting .252 with nine runs batted in and seven doubles.
Other players on Post 243’s roster include Mansfield Christian’s Jeff Vulgamore and Nick Cope, Shelby’s Justin Lewis and Galion’s Josh Keller. Lewis played his first collegiate season at Otterbein, finishing with a 101 record in six appearances, striking out four. He earned the save in Wednesday’s win over Prospect.
Galion-Mansfield will try to continue its winning ways at this weekend’s Coshocton tournament.
“We’re becoming a pretty good team,” Peterson said. “Sometimes it’s tough getting everyone here because they have work commitments. When we have all of our players, we’re pretty good.”
Galion-Mansfield will try to win the region (formerly district) tournament for the first time since 2010 later this summer. Post 243 opens region play against Ashland on July 14 in Tiffin. The winner of the region tournament advances to the state tournament.
“We haven’t been there for a while,” Peterson said. “We always run into Sandusky, which attracts a lot of the best players from northern Ohio. Hopefully we will be able to challenge for the title and get back to state this year.”
For now, though, Post 243 has its sights set on a strong showing this weekend.
“We’re playing pretty good baseball right now,” Peterson said. “We want to keep this streak going for as long as we can.”
