Crescent-News.com - Defiance pressures way to 13-3 win over Wapakoneta

By TIM McDONOUGH
mcdonough@crescent-news.com
Pressure.

It's a tool that the Defiance baseball team uses to its advantage many times during the course of a baseball season and on Friday at Booster Field, the Bulldogs were at it again.

Defiance put the pressure on Wapakoneta by stealing nine bases and scoring early and often in a 13-3, five-inning Western Buckeye League victory over the Redskins. The win keeps the Bulldogs (8-1) perfect in WBL play at 4-0 as they chase what they hope will be another league title.

"I was very proud of our aggressiveness on the bases today, we put a lot of pressure on their defense," stated Defiance head coach Tom Held. "Whenever you can jump on a team early, especially on your home turf, you've got an advantage and that's what we were able to do today."

The home team did just that, jumping out to a 5-0 lead after one inning of play.

A single to center by lead-off man Adam Wagner started the rally. After Wagner stole second, Alex Nofziger placed a perfect bunt down third-base line for an infield hit, moving Wagner to third. When Nofziger swiped second, Defiance had runners in scoring position with no outs.

Wapakoneta pitcher Evan Saunders got Craig Gutman to foul out to first, but the Bulldogs were able to steal a run when the throw came home to catcher Andy Martin. Martin saw Nofziger way off the bag at second on the play, and he quickly threw there to try and get Nofziger. His throw, however, got away from David Herman and Wagner scored while Nofziger moved to third.

One batter later, it was 2-0 in favor of the Bulldogs when Steve Riedel hit a ball through the legs of Wapak shortstop Josh Vorhees which scored Nofziger. Defiance wasn't through yet though. Another steal of second by Riedel and a walk to Dace Kime brought Ethan Rohlf to the dish. Rohlf promptly ripped a single past first to score Riedel and move Kime to third for a 3-0 Defiance lead.

Saunders made it a 4-0 deficit for the visitors when he balked in Kime when Rohlf broke for second base. A sacrifice bunt by Justin Riley moved Rohlf to third with two outs, before Justin Hancock sent Rohlf home with a single up the middle. Just like that Wapak was in a 5-0 hole that was the beginning to a long day. In all, Defiance stole three bases and had four hits in the frame.

"You can never fall behind a good team like Defiance like that, it obviously makes it tough," said Wapakoneta mentor Jason Brandt. "We had some miscues early on and that hurt us. If we don't do that maybe it's different, but that's all ifs ands and buts. Their pitcher (Richie Killion) also made it tough on us today too."

Starter Richie Killion did indeed made it tough on the Redskins as he gave up five hits and three runs in his five innings of work. Killion improved to 4-0 on the season, giving him half of Defiance's eight wins to date.

"Richie had good pop today and he battled," said Held. "He didn't have good command of his curveball today like he does when he's on, but he's just threw the ball well. He may be a surprise to a lot of people, but he's not a surprise to us. He's put in a great amount of time in the offseason and usually when you work hard, good things happen."

The Bulldogs kept the pressure on the next four innings, scoring three runs in the second, two in the third, one in the fourth and two in the bottom of the fifth to close out the 10-run victory. Included in that two-run fifth inning was the game-closing RBI single by pinch-hitter Kevin Connor.

Connor came off the bench to pinch-hit for Rohlf in the fifth with Defiance in front 12-3, and with Riedel on second after a double and Kime at first following his third walk of the game. Connor laced a single through the hole at short off Wapakoneta reliever Mike Rosenbeck to score Riedel and end the game in five.

"It felt great to have the opportunity today to get up there and help the team," said Connor. "I was up 0-2 in the count, I thought I would get a fastball, I did and I just happened to hit it into left field. When you come off the bench, you really only get that one opportunity and it feels good to make the most of it today."

Riedel finished the day with a single, a double and three RBI to pace the Bulldogs. Nofziger and Rohlf both added a pair of singles.

Mike Bogan had a single and double to lead Wapakoneta, with Chad Downing finishing with a pair of singles and Matt Deffenbaugh a double.

"I'm proud of our guys for not giving in after falling behind 8-0, but Defiance is a very good team and the reason they win is because they do the little things so well year-in and year-out," said Brandt. "If we could emulate some of the things they do, maybe we could have some of the success they have up here every year."

With four WBL wins in the books, Held and his Bulldogs aren't ready to take anything for granted as they move forward.

"It is what it is, we're 4-0, but we can't look ahead," said Held. "All we can do is go out and play, get better, work on our weaknesses and try to emphasize our strengths. I like the way we've improved the last four or five days and we're going to keep working to get better. At the end of the season, I guess we'll see where we're at."

Linescore
Wapakoneta 003 00 - 3 5 5
Defiance 532 12 - 13 10 0
Records: Defiance 8-1 (4-0 WBL), Wapakoneta 5-6 (1-2 WBL).
Winning pitcher: Richie Killion (5 innings, 3 runs, 5 hits, 4 strikeouts, 3 walk).
Losing pitcher: Evan Saunders (1 1/3 inning, 8 runs, 6 hits, 1 strikeout, 3 walks). Other: Mike Rosenbeck.
Leading hitters: (Wapakoneta, 5 hits) " Mike Bogan single, double; Chad Downing 2 singles; Matt Deffenbaugh double. (Defiance, 10 hits) " Alex Nofziger 2 singles; Steve Riedel single, double, 3 RBI; Ethan Rohlf 2 singles.