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From the Field: Gavin Balius and Brett Griffiths, Ball State Baseball
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I was looking forward to Ball State coming to town. They are a strong mid-major school—which I am always partial too—and are the alma mater of a couple of my favorite Cleveland prospects: Brad Snyder (2002-3), Perci Garner (2009-10) and Bryan Bullington (2000-2).
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Two of the biggest players I was hoping to get was infielders Brett Griffiths and outfielder Gavin Balius.
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Brett Griffiths is having a great start to the season, hitting .335 with a .444 OBP. Griffiths hitting should not be a surprise. Back in 2024, when he was a full-time starter with American River College (JUCO) he hit .371/.439/.491 with 11 SB.
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Gavin Balius is in the same boat, kicking off 2026 hitting .379 with a .424 OBP. He is a prototypical leadoff type, and it already 12/13 in stolen bases this season. He got on base twice during the Hawaii game, and you could tell UH was doing their best to keep him stuck on first. It was only partially successful—he went 1 for 2 in stolen bases. Balius is also not a just starting off the season strong, this is a par for the course with his past performances. Especially this past summer, where is had a .866 OPS playing in the Coastal Plain League.
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The only real disappointment of the night was Keegan Johnson won’t sign autographs. It’s a bummer. I don’t normally get denied. But…I guess that just the way it works sometimes.
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Anyway. They are here for three more days, and I hope to go back down to get a couple more players—the weather looks like it should hold. The series should be a good one, and I am hoping that Ball State evens it up tonight.