By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com
Hamilton used the long ball to wake up its offense and then rolled to a 12-5 win over the Galion Graders in Heise Park Friday night. Three home runs in the first two innings softened up the Graders’ pitching and allowed the Joes to tag five Galion hurlers for a total of 17 hits.
Andy Young got things going in the visitors’ half of the first with a towering solo shot down the left field line. Galion’s Colton Carney answered with a nearly identical blast in the bottom half of the first to knot the score, but the Joes came back with two long homers in their next at-bat.
Hunter Owen led off the second with another solo homer to left. Then Zach Hummel slammed a one-out double and rode home on Luke Emling’s two-run screamer, again to left, for a 4-1 Hamilton lead.
Down 5-1 going into the third, Galion tried to make a game of it. The Graders posted four straight hits to open the third frame. The Graders pushed three of those runners across the plate to make it 5-4, but Hamilton answered with a single tally in the fourth, two more in the fifth and iced the game with four in the seventh.
Owen finished with three hits including his homer as did Emling for the Joes. Carney drove in a total of three runs on his home run and a later single for Galion.
Left-hander Kyle Bennett got the win on the mound for the Joes. He went 6 and one-third innings and struck out two. Galion starter Trent Downs lasted just two innings and was tagged with the loss.
The Graders’ two-game win streak ends as Galion drops to 4-7 overall. Hamilton ended its two-game skid and earned a split in the series to go to 7-5. Hamilton travels to the Lake Erie Monarchs for a weekend series while the Graders are off until they face the Lima Locos in Heise Park on Tuesday for a two-day, home-and-home series.