There’s nothing like Little League baseball on a rainy, chilly evening in July.
Wait. What?
Be that as it may, the Galion Tigers 12U All-Stars didn’t let a little rain or a chill in the air on a summer night slow them down in their pursuit of a district championship.
Galion rolled to a 12-2 victory over the Shelby All-Stars in the District 7 tournament on Wednesday at Heise Park. The Tigers will now face Fremont on Sunday in the district semifinals. First pitch at Heise Park is 6 p.m.
Fremont defeated Clyde 2-1 on Wednesday.
“Fremont’s a good ballclub,” said Galion head coach Jason McMullen. “We played them last year in the championship. They hit the ball real hard as well. It should be a good battle.”
The district championship game will be played July 16 at Heise Park.
The winner of the District 7 tournament will advance to the Little League state tournament, which is scheduled for July 26-Aug. 2 in Painesville.
Advancing in tournament play is nothing new to the core group of players on this Galion ballclub. McMullen said they’ve won district titles at the 9U, 10U and 11U levels and are determined to keep that streak alive this season in the 12U division.
“The kids have really worked their tails off, really since they were eight-years old,” he said. “We’ve had this vision of building this team, winning the district and, hopefully, going on to win state.”
McMullen said the Tigers dedication to the game goes much deeper than just showing up when the weather turns warm in the spring.
“They’ve earned it,” he said. “They start hitting baseballs in mid January and really getting after it. It shows on the field. They’ve really just outworked a lot of the teams.”
