Crescent-News.com - Defiance baseballers earn share of WBL crown

By TIM McDONOUGH
mcdonough@crescent-news.com
ELIDA -- First came a little light rain, then came a big rainbow that could be seen across the sky at Elida's Ed Sandy Field on Tuesday afternoon. It turned out to be that kind of day for Defiance as it beat Elida 11-1 in six innings, and in the process secured a share of it's second straight Western Buckeye League baseball title.

The crown is the 19th all-time in school history for (Division II) No. 1 ranked Defiance (19-1, 8-0), which can finish off a perfect WBL slate with a win on Tuesday at Kenton. With the loss, Elida falls to 4-16 overall and to 1-6 in the league.

"It's good to get a share, but obviously we would like to finish it off and win it all by ourselves," stated Defiance mentor Tom Held. "It's great for the kids to win another league title, it's been a great year so far, but we've still got a lot to play for, including trying to finish unbeaten in the league and getting ready for the tournament."

Elida head coach Mark Thompson gave credit to the visiting Bulldogs for playing good baseball against his club.

"Defiance is a very good team that is very well coached," said Thompson. "I wish we could have given them a better game. We knew going in we couldn't make mistakes against them, but that's what we did. They're good ... they're better than we are."

After getting no-hit the night before by Fairview's Ryan Radcliff, Elida jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on Defiance starter Dace Kime.

Josh Bush singled to start the bottom of the first, before moving to second on a sacrifice bunt by Matt Thompson. A Matt Hampshire double scored Bush before Kime settled down to squash the rally.
But as has been the case all season long, Defiance answered with three runs in the top of the second inning to seize control.

A full-count walk to Ethan Rohlf, followed by a single to left by Craig Gutman gave the visitors runners at first and second with one out. After a passed ball moved the runners up 90 feet, Justin Riley delivered a single up the middle to score them both. A sac bunt by Bryn Lehman moved Riley to second, giving Adam Wagner a chance to deliver. Wagner did just that with a RBI single and just like that it was 3-1 Defiance.

"We got no-hit last night so I was happy to see us get some hits early, but we knew Defiance was going to hit the baseball," said Thompson. "When we made some mistakes, they jumped all over us like good clubs do. Like I said, they're just very good. They hit the baseball and they make all the plays."

"It was big to answer because after they scored early, you could see them gain confidence," said Held. "To answer and take the momentum back was good to see."

With Kime effectively keeping Elida off the scoreboard, Defiance tacked on two runs in the third inning and one in the fourth to grab a 6-1 lead. In the fifth, the visitors made it 8-1 on the strength of a RBI double by Gutman and a sacrifice fly by Lehman.

" It felt good to hit the ball well today," said Gutman, who finished with a single, double and three runs scored. "Coach (Rick) Weaver threw us batting practice before the game today and for some reason I felt good. I was able to keep my body in and I was hitting it well, plus I came into today with a good mindset and it paid off."

"It was the kind of day where everybody contributed with the bat and that was great," said Held. "Mark Sebring has been swinging a hot bat, Ethan Rohlf swung well and Craig Gutman had a big day. We need his bat, he's our top hitter from last summer."

Defiance pushed ahead 11-1 in the sixth, taking advantage of four Elida errors in the process. Kime, who pushed his mark to 7-0 on the hill, then got himself into a jam in the bottom of the sixth as a walk to pinch-hitter Josh Foltz and singles by Brandon Good and Corey Clum loaded the bases. But Kime battled back, striking out the next three Elida batters to secure the victory and the WBL championship.

"Dace was able to get his breaking stuff over as the game went on, but what I really liked was him finding a way to get out of a jam in the seventh inning," said Held. "He came back and struck out the side, which is big for any young pitcher. He struggled a little bit today with his mechanics, so we'll look at that and get back to work."

Winning their second straight WBL is a good experience said DHS senior Steve Riedel. But Riedel also admitted that he and the rest of the team won't be satisfied unless it can finish off the another unbeaten league slate for the second year in a row.

"It feels great, especially being a senior," said Riedel. "But we still have a lot more to play for, and we won't be satisfied unless we can finish it off unbeaten. The thing about this team is we never feel like we're going to lose ... we just always feel like we can win. I guess the thought never crosses our minds that we're going to lose."

Defiance returns to action on Thursday when it travels to Parkway, before hosting Delta at home on Friday.

Linescore
Defiance 032 123 - 11 11 0
Elida 100 000 - 1 7 6
Records: Defiance 19-1 (8-0 WBL), Elida 4-16 (1-6 WBL).
Winning pitcher: Dace Kime (6 innings, 1 run, 7 hits, 8 strikeouts, 2 walks).
Losing pitcher: Steven Swick (4 innings, 6 runs, 9 hits, 3 strikeouts, 2 walks). Others: Brandon Good, Matt Thompson.
Leading hitters: (Defiance, 11 hits) - Adam Wagner single, double; Mark Sebring 2 singles; Ethan Rohlf double; Craig Gutman single, double, 3 runs; Justin Riley 2 singles. (Elida, 7 hits) - Josh Bush 2 singles; Matt Hampshire single, double.