Galion Graders
Hometown kid gets first win as a Grader!
Date:06/21/2018 Source:Galion Graders
Galion, OH - It was a quiet and overcast night when the Graders came to play the Settlers, but little did Mac Spears know that throwing the ninth inning would get him his first win as a Galion Grader. If you are a fan of pitchers duels this was not the game for you. It was a slugfest for both teams on the night, but the Graders joined the hit parade a bit later than the Settlers. The Settler...
Graders Advance to 7-2
Date:06/20/2018 Source:Galion Graders
Athens, OH - It was a warm and sticky night in Athens as the Graders and Copperheads faced off. Rain was supposed to shorten the evening, but the forecast ended up being wrong and making it a great night for some baseball. The Graders were held hitless through 5 innings and in the 6th, that's when it all changed. After being down 1-0, the Graders struck for two in the top of the sixth inning....
This week in Grader Baseball
Date:06/18/2018 Source:Galion Graders
Galion, OH- After starting off 5-0, the Graders fished the week 6-2. The two losses have come by a walk off to the Richmond Jazz and a 12-9 loss to the Xenia Scouts. Juan De La Cruz has been the shining star so far for the Grader offense. De La Cruz has recorded 2 home runs and 13 RBI in only 31 at bats. He has started every game for the Graders either at first base or filling the designated hitt...
Win Streak Snapped
Date:06/15/2018 Source:Galion Graders
Galion, OH- After starting off the season in historic fashion, the Graders lose a tough one tonight by the score of 12-9. The Graders struck first in the ballgame after Todd Sekowski was hit by a pitch to be the first man on for the Graders. They managed to score Sekowski without recording a hit after a wild pitch and a passed ball, Sekowski ended up on third. Stone then walked, Reimold was...
Graders Win 13-4, Extend Win Streak to 5!
Date:06/14/2018 Source:Galion Graders
Galion, OH - After tonight's game against the Xenia Scouts (1-3), the Graders (5-0) have now won their past 5 contests in a row! This win streak dates back to the first series of the year against the Licking County Settlers. The scoring started in the first inning when the first three batters of the game all singled to load the bases for Austin Hathaway. Hathaway hit a grand slam cleari...
Host families sought for 2017 team members
Date:03/07/2017 Source:Galion Graders
At the heart of every successful summer collegiate or minor league team is a network of local host families, who serve as volunteers to a group of young men whose main focus is baseball. These volunteers, also known as host families, are being sought to house members of the 2017 Galion Graders baseball team throughout June and July this year. These young men are scholarship athletes wh...
Graders expand coaching staff for 2017
Date:02/10/2017 Source:Galion Graders
The Galion Graders baseball club is excited to announce the addition of two new faces for the 2017 season. Sam Fondriest will serve as the new bench coach for the Graders. Fondriest was a former infielder and four-year letter winner at Walsh University, where he begins his third year as a graduate assistant and junior varsity coach. He was a three-year starter at shortstop and also started a ...
Graders season one in the books
Date:07/31/2015 Source:Galion Graders
By Andrew Carter A winless opening weekend of the season left some in the Galion Graders camp with a bad case of the jitters. The 0-4 start was definitely a bad omen for what the rest of the summer might bring for the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League’s newest franchise. But after being outscored 35-11 in those first four outings, the Graders were able to rebound, especially in the last...
Graders reflect on first season
Date:07/31/2015 Source:Galion Graders
Curt Conrad, Staff Reporter Nick Riotto probably played himself out of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League, but if the rising junior outfielder at Penn State were to end up with the Galion Graders in 2016, he wouldn’t be broken-hearted. That is a testament to the conveniences the first year franchise — and the host families who opened their homes — offered players this sum...
Graders close with unlikely win
Date:07/29/2015 Source:Galion Graders
Curt Conrad, Staff Reporter Graders general manager Mike O’Leary was looking for someone to celebrate with after Tuesday’s unlikely 3-2 win over the Cincinnati Steam, but there was virtually nobody left in the third base dugout. “Best win of the season,” O’Leary announced to anyone within ear shot. If not the best, it was certainly the most unlikely victory of the ...
Graders, Avita Health System make a great team
Date:07/26/2015 Source:Galion Graders
July 25 was Avita Health System Day at James D. Heddleson Field and the 262 fans in attendance were treated to giveaways like plastic cups, tiger drawstring bags, and stressballs (that looked like baseballs, of course). Earlier that afternoon, doctors and staff members from Avita played the Graders in a softball game. Avita won 3-2. Before the Graders' game against the Xenia S...
Graders win in 12 innings
Date:07/26/2015 Source:Galion Graders
Curt Conrad, Staff Reporter The postgame fireworks display was put on hold, but the wait was worth it for Galion Graders fans. Mark Walton’s infield single drove in pinch runner A.J. Cecil and the Graders escaped with a 6-5 walk-off win in 12 innings over the playoff-bound Xenia Scouts on Saturday at Heddleson Field. “I didn’t hit it very good, but I placed it alright,” ...
Monarchs go extra to top Graders, 7-6
Date:07/24/2015 Source:Galion Graders
By Andrew Carter FLAT ROCK, Mich. — Despite rallying to tie the game in the top of the ninth, Galion dropped a 7-6 decision to Lake Erie in 11 innings on Friday. The loss ended the Graders’ bid to earn a postseason berth in its first season in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League. The Monarchs (21-15) locked up their spot in the playoffs with the win at home, guaranteeing themsel...
Galion splits DH with Lake Erie
Date:07/23/2015 Source:Galion Graders
After dropping the first game, Galion bounced back to win the nightcap of a doubleheader versus visiting Lake Erie on Thursday. The Graders (13-20) used solid pitching and defense to pick up a 2-1 victory after being shut out 6-0 in the opener. In their victory, the pitching trio of Kody Brown, Josh Petersen and Brody Basilone combined to scatter 10 hits and strike out six for the Graders...
Postseason within Graders grasp
Date:07/21/2015 Source:Galion Graders
By Andrew Carter With less than a week remaining in the regular season, the Galion Graders are still in contention for one of the six playoff berths in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League. Galion (12-18) pulled to within three and a half games of the final playoff spot after posting a sweep of Lorain County in a doubleheader on Monday at James D. Heddleson Field in Heise Park. The Graders c...
Graders enjoying Galion hospitality
Date:07/17/2015 Source:Galion Graders
By Andrew Carter Opening your home to family or close friends for an extended stay is usually no problem. You’re happy to do it. You enjoy the fellowship. It’s good to have those you love stay with you for a little while. But bringing complete strangers into your personal space, that’s a different story. It takes a special sort of hospitality to do that. Galion Graders baseba...
Graders heating up for stretch run
Date:07/16/2015 Source:Galion Graders
Curt Conrad, Staff Reporter They rank at or near the bottom of the 11-team Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League in virtually every meaningful statistical category, but the Galion Graders are still hanging around. The Graders improved to 10-16 on the season with Wednesday’s doubleheader sweep of Northern Ohio. Galion is lingering in ninth in the league standings, but closed within 3.5 games...
So. Ohio defeats Galion in 6-5 thriller
Date:07/06/2015 Source:Galion Graders
by Gary Pasqualicchio, Copperheads Executive Director of Communications and Media On Sunday, in front of 1,022 fans, the Southern Ohio Copperheads (14-9), presented by OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital, traveled to Galion and topped the Graders (6-15) by a score of 6-5. The contest was the second game of a home-and-home series in which the Copperheads lost the first game 4-3. Getting the ...
Graders blank Settlers, snap 7-game losing skid
Date:07/02/2015 Source:Galion Graders
By Andrew Carter andrewcarter@civitasmedia.com A collective sigh of relief was followed by smiles all around. That was the reaction on Thursday evening at James D. Heddleson Field in Heise Park after the Galion Graders shut out the Licking County Settlers, 4-0. The victory put the brakes on a seven-game losing skid for Galion. In the minds of the Graders (5-13), the win just might be the spark...
Heise Park shining brightly now
Date:07/02/2015 Source:Galion Graders
It was around 7:40 p.m. on Wednesday when the lights at Heise Park flickered to life. So what, you might say. Lights at a ballpark, no big deal. Right? Well, for the Galion Graders, the simple flip of a switch was a major victory. The seemingly never-ending battle to bring new lights to James D. Heddleson Field weighed heavily on the team’s staff throughout the first month of the season. ...
Locos stop Graders, 6-5
Date:07/01/2015 Source:Galion Graders
The stress associated with a long losing streak was visible on the face of Ray Neill after his Galion Graders dropped a 6-5 decision to Lima on Wednesday at Heise Park. It marked the seventh consecutive defeat for Galion, which less than two weeks ago, was only three and a half games out of first place in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League. After Wednesday’s loss, the Graders (4-13) f...
Galion's journeyman extraordinaire
Date:06/30/2015 Source:Galion Graders
Curt Conrad, Staff Reporter In baseball parlance, a player who drifts from franchise to franchise without ever finding a permanent home is called a journeyman. Baseball doesn’t have a term befitting a player like J.T. Core. The Galion Graders slugger already has put more pins in the map than most people will in a lifetime. The 21-year-old Core has played in three countries and on two con...
Scouts sweep twinbill with Graders
Date:06/30/2015 Source:Galion Graders
XENIA — After rain canceled home games last Friday and Saturday, the Galion Graders finally got to play baseball on Sunday. However, Galion was unable to snap out of its current funk, and dropped a doubleheader to the Xenia Scouts, 3-1 and 6-2. The Graders (4-12) have now lost six consecutive games. The Graders return to Heise Park on Wednesday for the first of four home dates this week. G...
Galion comeback falls short in loss to Lima
Date:06/24/2015 Source:Galion Graders
Curt Conrad, Staff Reporter If Galion manager Ray Neill had any concerns about his team’s mental constitution, they were put to rest during Tuesday’s 5-4 loss to the Lima Locos at Heddleson Field. The Graders trailed 5-0 before most of the announced crowd of 247 had found their seats, but had the potential game-tying run at second with one out in the bottom of the ninth. A game-endi...
Joes dig the long ball in win over Graders
Date:06/20/2015 Source:Galion Graders
By Andrew Carter - andrewcarter@civitasmedia.com In the words of their namesake, the Hamilton Joes rounded third and headed for home again and again in a 12-6 victory over the Galion Graders on Friday at James D. Heddleson Field at Heise Park. The Joes (7-5), named in honor of former Cincinnati Redspitcher Joe Nuxhall, belted three home runs and pounde...
Hair-raising: Lexington's Basilone shining for Graders
Date:06/16/2015 Source:Galion Graders
Curt Conrad, Staff Reporter He doesn’t draw Samson-like strength from those free-flowing locks spilling out from under his Galion Graders baseball cap, but Brody Basilone is in no hurry to trim his signature mane. A 2014 Lexington graduate, Basilone is the most easily recognizable of the Graders. His shoulder-length brown hair is impossible to overlook. “I used to have a buzz cut du...
Longtime Perkins coach Ray Neill coaching Galion Graders team
Date:06/16/2015 Source:Galion Graders
By Mark Hazelwood Ray Neill is 62 years old, and retired from his day job. But when it comes to the game of baseball, the longtime Perkins coach simply cannot stay away. After five years as a coach in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate Baseball League in the early 90s, and a 12-year stint as the Sandusky American Legion Post 83 coach, Neill has often given his summer to the sport as well. And a...
Galion Graders begin first season at Heise Park
Date:06/11/2015 Source:Galion Graders
Carl Hunnell, correspondent It was too good an opportunity for Brody Basilone and Ray Neill to pass up. The folks who founded the Galion Graders hope area baseball fans feel the same way. Basilone, a 2014 Lexington High School graduate, and Neill, the veteran Sandusky Perkins High School coach, said they are thrilled with the chance at collegiate-level baseball so close to home this summer. Jus...
Graders thump Steam, 8-3
Date:06/11/2015 Source:Galion Graders
By Andrew Carter - andrewcarter@civitasmedia.com CINCINNATI — A two-game winning streak is now in progress for the Galion Graders in the wake of an 8-3 victory over the Cincinnati Steam on Wednesday in the Queen City. Galion (2-4) earned a sweep of the home and home series thanks to an 8-2 win on Tuesday at James D. Heddleson Field at Heise Park. That was Galion&rsqu...
Time change announced for this weekend's games
Date:06/10/2015 Source:Galion Graders
There has been a time change for the Galion Graders' home games this weekend. The new start time for the Friday, June 12 game against the Lorain County Ironmen is 5:30 p.m. The start time for the Saturday, June 13 game against the Grand Lake Mariners is 2 p.m. The time changes were necessary because the new field lights at James D. Heddleson Field are still in ...
