Lorain County bats silenced

The Lorain County Ironmen have found themselves in the midst of another three-game losing streak after dropping a July 14 content to the Galion Graders, 7-2.

The Ironmen could only muster four hits in the loss.

In a season where consistency has eluded his ball club, first-year coach Kevin Whiteside knows these losing streaks are a part of the road blocks the Ironmen (9-21) will need to break down in order to contend for a championship one day.

“It’s very frustrating,” Whiteside said. “We come to the yard and my expectations everyday are to win. We just have to find a way to get it done.”

It didn’t take long for the Graders (14-15) to jump out to an early lead as Braxton Giavedoni knocked an RBI single in the top of the first inning.

Giavedoni proved to be the thorn in the Ironmen’s side all evening, going 2-for-5 with two singles and three RBI.

The Ironmen tried to answer back quickly as Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League All-Star Chase Knodle reached on an error then made his way around the bases, but ultimately could not reach home as Graders pitcher Hyatt Shenefield got out of the inning.

Shenefield (1-3) looked nothing like his record as he made quick work of the Ironmen through most of his time on the mound. He went five innings, allowing two runs, four hits, and three walks while striking out three.

The Ironmen broke through in the bottom of the third with Nicholas Novak’s RBI single that scored Richard Phillips, evening the score at 1-1.

Novak was the lone bright spot on the day for Ironmen, going 2-for-4 with two singles and an RBI.

He accounted for half of Lorain County’s hits on the evening and will look to carry over his play into the tail end of the season.

“Coming in this summer, I definitely just try and work on everything and get better, contributing in any way,” Novak said. “This helps me going into the last couple weeks of the season.”

Whiteside had high praise for the Angelo State University sophomore.

“He just continues to get better,” Whiteside said. “Nick comes in everyday ready to play and I know he is going to be in the lineup every day with a good attitude and he is going to be a really good player.”

Galion took back the lead in the top of the fourth with Zach Mottice’s RBI single. Shortly after, the Graders widened their lead with a three-run fifth inning, including

an RBI single from Matthew Noel and a tworun single from Giavedoni.

Whiteside felt the Graders saw an opportunity in the fifth inning and went in for the kill.

“Those guys capitalized,” Whiteside said. “They took some good swings on the balls and that’s what good teams do, they find a way to win.”

Ironmen pitcher Mark Mittiga (2-2) was pulled an inning later. He pitched five innings, allowing five runs, eight hits, three walks and struck out two.

Lorain County added another run as Sam Casinelli drove in an RBI single, scoring Novak and cutting the Grader lead, 6-2.

The Graders tacked on their final run as Josh Kent scored on a wild pitch from Ironmen reliever Tony Lero.

Now 30 games into the season, Whiteside expects his team to fight for their pride as they try to finish out the season on a positive note, reiterating he had high expectations for the Ironmen coming in.

“Winning a championship,” Whiteside said when asked his realistic expectations fro his ball club coming into his first year at the helm. “That was my goal coming in and I’ll tell anybody that. Coming in from day one it was to win a championship.”

Now in their third threegame losing streak of the season, Lorain County will have two chances to get back in the win column as they host the Licking County Settlers for a double header at The Pipe Yard starting at 3:35 p.m. on July 15.