Who is No. 1? See which team has the top spot in Richland County Baseball Power Poll
MANSFIELD — It has been a slow start for Richland County baseball teams.
Just one team has a winning record and three are still looking for their first win after Week 1 of the season. Let's catch up with everyone with this week's Richland County Baseball Power Poll.
SOFTBALL POWER POLL: Whirlwind week sees major shakeup in Richland County Softball Power Poll
10. Mansfield Christian (0-2)
The Flames start the season with a pair of losses, first to Shekinah Christian 9-4 and then to Central Christian 9-2. Zach Dumbeck is having a great start to the year hitting .667 with four hits including three doubles with two RBIs. He has also thrown nine innings allowing just five earned runs with 21 strikeouts. If the Flames can put some pieces around him, that first win isn’t too far away. They have Central Christian, Buckeye Central and Tuscarawas Central Catholic coming up this week.
9. Lexington (0-4)
The Minutemen are off to a slow start to the 2024 season. They lost to Galion 3-2, Mount Vernon 7-2 and 14-1 and Galion again, 17-3. Now those are two very good teams so you have to take that into consideration but the Minutemen are hitting .175 as a team through their first four games and of the 41 runs they have allowed, 27 have been earned. They are scheduled to play Madison and Big Walnut twice this week with hopes of turning things around quickly.
8. Lucas (0-2)
The Cubs are searching for their first win of the season after falling to Northmor 8-0 and East Knox 7-5. Bobby Grover and Graysen Jackson are off to nice starts to the season. Grover is hitting .500 while Jackson is at .400 after just two games. The Cubs have a busy week with two against Loudonville and one against Mount Gilead and New London on the schedule. If they can get the offense to match the defense, they could be in good shape to pick up win No. 1.
7. Mansfield Senior (1-2)
The Tygers make a move up to No. 7 this week thanks to earning a dominating 17-0 victory over Toledo Rogers in the season opener. They did drop a pair of OCC games to state-ranked West Holmes 10-3 and 11-0, but getting that first win early is huge for the TYs. Justin Bland tossed a no-hitter for the win working five innings allowing three walks with 11 strikeouts. Joshua Malone had two hits and three RBIs to lead the offense. The Tygers have New Philadelphia twice and Shelby once this week as they look to build on some early season success.
6. Plymouth (1-1)
The Big Red split a pair of early games falling to Colonel Crawford 11-10 and beating Crestline 19-1. The Big Red can score some runs this year and it should be interesting to see what that offense can do the rest of the way. Drake Stanfield had a huge day at the plate against Crestline with three hits, three runs scored and three RBIs. The Big Red scored 19 runs on 13 hits with 11 RBIs and nine walks. They hope to keep that efficiency up in two games with South Central and one apiece against Mohawk and Wynford to round out the week.
5. Ontario (1-3)
The Warriors are struggling out of the gate, but we have all heard that story before and know how it ended up last year. After a 7-4 loss to Madison to begin the season, the Warriors split with River Valley winning 2-1 before falling 5-2 and then took a 3-0 loss to Clear Fork to fall to 1-2 in MOAC play. Carter Weaver tossed a masterpiece in the win over RV allowing one unearned run on three hits with 10 strikeouts in six innings of work. Offensively, the Warriors have some room to grow with a .216 team batting average. They have Clear Fork one more time before they head to Myrtle Beach for a Spring Break trip where they will play three teams from out of state.
4. Madison (1-2)
The Rams are the surprise team of the early season so far. After beating Ontario 7-4 in the opener, they battled New Philadelphia very tough in OCC play with 8-2 and 6-2 losses. But that win over Ontario is a testament to what they can do this year. Elijah Fox had a huge day with three hits and one RBI while also earning the win on the mound allowing three runs, just two earned, on eight hits with six strikeouts. The Rams have Lexington twice and Clyde once this week as they look to get back to above .500 by the start of next week.
3. Shelby (0-0)
The Whippets have yet to take the field this year after a lengthy run in basketball forced them to push back the start of their season in order to get some arms ready for a run at a league championship. They start the season on Thursday at Tiffin Columbian before heading to Mansfield Senior on Friday and hosting Crestview on Saturday. Nothing like getting right after it out of the gate.
2. Crestview (1-1)
The Cougars had an interesting start to the season. First, they beat Black River 3-2 before getting run-ruled by Willard, 14-1 in a game they had five errors in. Needless to say, the Cougars are better than they showed against the Flashes. Against Black River, Jarek Ringler had himself a day with two hits and a run scored while also earning the win on the mound allowing just two runs, one earned, on nine hits with 11 strikeouts in six innings of work. The Cougars have a two-game series with Western Reserve and a road game at Shelby this week.
1. Clear Fork (3-2)
The Colts did enough this week to warrant the No. 1 spot in this week’s power poll. They started the year with a 13-5 win over Cardington before taking two tough MOAC losses to Galion by scores of 8-4 and 7-2. They rebounded with a 13-3 win over Wynford and then knocked off last week’s No. 1 team, Ontario, 3-0 on Monday. Luke Schlosser was an animal in the win over the Warriors tossing six innings of one-hit baseball with 10 strikeouts while also adding one hit, one run scored, one RBI, two walks and two stolen bases at the plate. If the Colts get that out of him every single day, they are going to be hard to beat. They take on Ontario one more time and round out the week against Ashland on Thursday.
Last Week’s Standings
10. Mansfield Christian
9. Mansfield Senior
8. Madison
7. Lucas
6. Plymouth
5. Lexington
4. Clear Fork
3. Shelby
2. Crestview
1. Ontario
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Clear Fork Colts No. 1 in Richland County Baseball Power Poll
