Graders taking ‘new season’ approach
- 2-8 in last ten games, all losses by less than four runs
- Five losses by one run, two by just two runs
- Three players hitting above .250 on the season
- Pitching staff has been lights out in the past seven days
GALION – The Galion Graders are new to the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League, and in their inaugural season, it is showing. In their last 10 games, the Graders are 2-8, but in Manager Ray Neill’s eyes, the Graders are 0-0 and that has them playing well.
“We are going into every game with the mentality that we are 0-0 before every game and our goal is to be the best team on the field every game. We have a sign in our dugout that said our record is 0-0 and these guys are buying in. It shows with how close our games have been. One swing or one strikeout difference, we are looking at a long winning streak,” Neill said.
The Graders were more than competitive in the 10-game span. None of the losses for the first-year GLSCL team came by more than four runs.
Of those eight losses, four were by just one run and two are by two runs. This goes to show that the Graders are close, and in baseball, those close games will start turning into wins in the blink of an eye.
“In our seven-game losing streak, we have been up in the sixth or seventh in just about every game. One game, we gave up a three run homer late, and tonight (Friday) there was a sacrifice fly hit between our center fielder and right fielder that half of our dugout was calling for one and the other half was calling for the other,” Neill said.
“Had we caught it cleanly instead of a collision, we possibly could have stopped a run from scoring. But, little things seem to happen that do not go our way. When your team is struggling, you start to second guess and micromanage everything.”
The Graders have been on the other end of the close games of late. Taking leads into the six and seventh, the Graders have witnessed teams grab timely hits in key situations.
“We have been punched in the gut so many times this summer by taking leads into late games and then losing them. When teams retake leads late on us, it deflates our dugout and it is tough to come back,” Neill added.
The Graders pitching staff has been superb this season with three arms carrying an ERA below 3.00. Luke Fraley is leading the way with a 1.50 ERA. Right behind him is Ben Hamilton with a 2.30 and Matthew Sullivan with a 2.73. Sullivan also leads the team in strikeouts with 22.
The problem is not giving up runs, but scoring them. Just once this season, the Graders have scored double digit runs.
The pitching staff was on display in the Graders game against the Licking County Settlers on July 2, a 4-0 win for the Galion club.
Will Ore took the win in the game throwing six solid innings allowing just two hits, walking three and striking out one. Ben Hamilton took over in the seventh and threw a solid 1 2/3 inning before giving the ball to Lexington product Brody Basilone for the remaining 1 1/3 to complete the shutout. The staff combined to give up just two hits that night, walking five and striking out just two.
The shutout was the product of great defense rather than overpowering strikeout pitching. The Graders defense piled up 25 putouts while making just two errors.
But is it the past seven days pitching stats that are mind-blowingly good. The staff ERA is just three. Three pitchers carry a zero average and four are below four runs per game. The bullpen has been outstanding with Basilone and Hamilton anchoring the way not giving up a single run.
The offense has struggled for the Graders. Centerfielder Nicholas Riotto is hitting a scorching .400 with a team-leading 18 hits while driving in seven runs. Zach Gunter and JT Core are hitting .286 and .271 respectively with Core driving in a team-high 12 runs. Beyond that, no one else is hitting above .250.
The Graders sit at 6-15 and will host the Cincinnati Steam on Tuesday at Heise Park in Galion. The Graders beat the Steam twice this season.
jfurr@gannett.com
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Twitter: @JakeFurr11