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Defiance duo sweeps diamond accolades

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By TIM McDONOUGH

mcdonough@crescent-news.com

The votes are in, they've been counted and it looks like a clean sweep.

Defiance senior Tyler Burgoon and DHS head coach Tom Held have been voted the 2007 Crescent-News Baseball Player and Coach of the Year after both were instrumental in leading the Bulldogs to another outstanding season on the diamond.

The awards are voted on by coaches in the Defiance six-county area. Rounding out the top five players who earned votes for Player of the Year were Kolbrin Vitek of Bryan, Evan Brown of Stryker, Preston Zachrich of Ayersville and Andrew Pinkelman of Evergreen.

Burgoon, a senior, did it all for the Bulldogs (28-4) in 2007. The 5-10, 160-pound, right-hander put up big numbers by pitching, hitting, catching and running his way to another outstanding campaign. Burgoon will further his education and his baseball career this fall at Michigan.

"It's a great honor to get an award like this," stated Burgoon, a three-year starter. "It means a lot to know that the coaches in the area are giving me credit for all the work I put in. To be honest, It's just now hitting me that high school baseball is over with.

"It's been a great trip (playing high school baseball)," added Burgoon. "Getting the chance to play baseball with my buddies was a lot of fun. It was a lot of hard work too, but I would definitely do it all again if I had the chance."

Held certainly feels that Burgoon is deserving of the award.

"It's a great honor for Tyler to win this award and he joins some pretty good company from all over this area who have won it in the past," said Held. "Northwest Ohio baseball has been good for a long time and for him to join the ranks of players who have won this award is something he's very deserving of because he belongs in that company."

Burgoon's numbers certainly speak for themselves. The WBL and Division II co-Player of the Year finished 2007 11-0 with an 0.67 ERA. In 72 2/3 innings pitched while striking out 125 batters and walked just 23. When not on the mound, Burgoon was the DHS catcher and finished with a .954 fielding percentage.

At the plate, the Defiance lead-off hitter batted .420 (37-of-88) with 44 runs scored, 11 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs and 20 RBI. He was also a big threat on the base paths, finishing 28-of-29 in steal attempts, two behind the school record set by teammate Cameron Stykemain.

"What I'll remember most, I think, is ... good and bad making it to regionals all three years I played," said Burgoon. "It's nice to get there, but you want to go on to state and not get stuck in that rut. But I can't be disappointed in the three years we've had here (in 95 career games Burgoon was on teams that finished a combined 85-10), they were great."

Burgoon, a 4.0 student, who will study kinesiology at Michigan, acknowledged that a lot of people have been instrumental in his development as a student, a person and as a baseball player.

"My parents have always been great and they've supported me in the classroom and in baseball ... my dad has been my biggest fan," said Burgoon. "They were always there behind the scenes and I can't thank them enough. Coach Held has always been there on and off the field and all the coaches here have been great."

While Held will miss Burgoon the player, what he'll miss even more is Burgoon the person.

"Tyler is a true student athlete and a true man of character," said Held. "He's a high-character guy with a 4.0 grade point average and a high score on the ACT. Those are attributes, along with his God-given ability to play baseball, that have him going to college at Michigan. But the best thing about Tyler is that he enjoys life. He's always got a smile on his face, he's easy-going and he has fun on and off the field."

While Burgoon has added his name to a long list of great players who have won the C-N award, it's becoming old hat for Held to win the C-N award for coaching. Held has won the award numerous times while at both Bryan and Defiance and It's always a humbling experience according to the DHS mentor.

"What a coaches award is, it's the ultimate team award because you don't win coaches award unless your team has had a great season and this one goes to the 2007 Defiance baseball team," said Held. "I'm the luckiest guy because I'm the head coach here and to me, it's the greatest job in the world. I say that sincerely because I love what I do. All I did was jump on these guys shoulders and let them give me a ride and it was another great ride this season."

In nine seasons at the helm of the Defiance program, Held is an astounding 225-44 for a winning percentage of .836. This past season Held guided Defiance to an unbeaten slate in the Western Buckeye League (9-0), to the school's ninth straight Division II sectional title and to another district crown.

"When you think about some of the coaches who had outstanding seasons this year, it's truly an honor to win this award," said Held. "Steve Yenser did an outstanding job at Ayersville taking over for a legend in Jim Leininger and taking that club to the regionals. Brent Renollet led a young Tinora team to the most wins in school history there and Joe Greiser got Stryker back to the regionals. Those are three guys that really stand out.

"I also share this with all my coaches here as well," concluded Held. "Rick Weaver is really a head coach, he has as much responsibility here as I do and then obviously with our other assistants, they also do such a great job of preparing our players. Everybody owns a piece of this here, and that's what makes it special."