GALION — Galion picked up a big Mid Ohio Athletic Conference baseball win on Tuesday evening when they defeated visiting Ontario, 10-5.
“It’s good for our program. Hopefully, that means growth in our program,” Tigers coach Neil Schaffner said. “Hopefully the guys are believing they can play with anybody with the reputation that Ontario has. We came out and played our game and played our pace, played very well today. I was happy with our players.”
Troy Manring started things off for the Tigers when he drove a first pitch to the center field fence for a triple. The four-spot hitter gave Galion a 1-0 lead after an inning.
Ontario (7-9, 4-2 MOAC) rallied as starting pitcher Caden Armstrong helped himself out with a single, eventually scoring on a Ryan Brophy sacrifice bunt. Carter Weaver then reached base on an error, Brophy scored on the same play giving the Warriors a 2-1 lead.
Galion (9-6, 5-4 MOAC) battled back, shifting momentum in the second inning. Donahvin Martin singled and brought in a run. Hudson Miller hustled home on a wild pitch that gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead.
Armstrong crossed the plate in the third to tie it up for Ontario after the Tigers’ third error through three innings.
Galion’s Wilson Frankhouse started the bottom half of the third off with a single and eventually scored on a Miller single for another lead change. Martin picked up another RBI with a blooper to left field. Miller scored on a past ball to make it 6-3. The bottom part of the Galion order enjoyed a lot of success against Ontario on Tuesday.
“Anytime when you’re getting guys on base at the seven, eight, nine, that means whoever we’re facing has to pitch to everybody. That’s taxing on their mental as the game goes on,” Schaffner explained.
Ontario’s Owen Hatfield started off the fifth with a first pitch single he sent to left field. Hatfield scored on a sacrifice fly by Armstrong. Kyle Walters doubled for the Warriors then scored on a passed ball to make it a 6-5 game with the Tigers leading.
Carter Keinath recorded an RBI groundout in the bottom half of the fifth that scored Miller. Symsick stayed hot at the plate with an RBI single through left field. Manring added a RBI single to make it a 10-5 game.
In the final inning, Ontario was retired in order.
Martin enjoyed a huge day with three hits to lead the way for Galion. Symsick, Manring, and Miller had two hits each.
Symsick was on the bump for Galion and tossed a complete game, striking out seven and allowing three earned runs.
“He had a real good pace,” Schaffner said. “Started to slow down a little bit after they had a big inning. Pace helped him a lot.”
Armstrong got the start for Ontario and went 4-2/3 innings, struck out two batters, and gave up six earned runs. Peyton Dzugan took care of relief duties for the Warriors.
After the big win for Galion, Schaffner said he likes the growth he’s seen in his team even through bumpy roads.
“I like what we’re doing,” said Schaffner. “We’ve lost a couple games here and there, but they have made the adjustments to understand what it takes to be consistent and play hard.”
