GALION — So far this season, the Galion Graders have had their ups and their downs. The local squad has also had contributions from all over the diamond to help put them on track to have their most successful season in their now three-year existence.
July 9 through July 15 saw the Graders breaking even at 3-3. The week started with a win at Licking County, saw two losses to the talented Lima Locos squad, two wins against the struggling Lorain County Ironmen and was capped with a 9-7 loss to the Grand Lake Mariners at home.
For the games played during last week, outfielder Grant Fuller and relief pitcher Dustin Baird have been named the Graders Greats of the Week.
Although he went just 2/8 in limited action last week, Fuller did score three runs for the Graders, recorded his seventh stolen base of the season in the 07/12 loss to Lima and legged out a double and a triple for his two hits. Fuller stands just 5 feet 9 inches and hits the scales at about 150-pounds. Grant plays his collegiate ball, as does teammates Matthew Freeman and Josh Kent, for Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, North Carolina. Fuller proudly calls Simpsonville, South Carolina his home and is a rising junior for the Bears.
Dustin Baird is easy to spot in the Graders’ dugout. Baird is the tallest guy on the team at 6 foot 8 inches and looks even taller on the mound. In the two games that Dustin appeared in last week, he pitched 4.2 innings of relief work and allowed just one hit and zero runs. Baird also recorded one walk and three strikeouts in that time while earning a save in the 07/14 win over the Ironmen. Dustin calls Indianapolis, Indiana home and is a junior at Brown University majoring in Political Science. Baird and Graders’ teammate Parke Phillips are both members of the Brown Bears baseball squad and yes, that is an Ivy League school.
Congratulations to Grant and Dustin on being named last week’s Graders Greats of the Week!
