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Baseball is a big hit in Defiance

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By BRUCE HEFFLINGER

hefflinger@crescent-news.com

There is one word that simply does not exist in the vocabulary of Defiance High School baseball.

Rebuild.

It just doesn't happen.

In his 10th year at the helm of the DHS program Tom Held has won at least 21 games every year. At 19-1, the 2008 team will certainly keep that going.

There's no rebuilding, only reloading.

Greg Inselmann set the standard for Defiance baseball during his long tenure at the school that lasted from 1981-1998. In that time DHS never had a losing record, won one state and eight Western Buckeye League titles.

"The sign of a good program is to maintain it year after year no matter the talent," Inselmann said. "If you have sound pitching and can produce runs however it takes you to do it, you can be a consistent winner."

Since Held took over in 1999 that success has continued in impressive fashion. On Tuesday the Bulldogs wrapped up their seventh WBL crown in Held's decade in charge.

Defiance is currently the top-ranked team in the state in Division II for the second week in a row. It's a tribute not just to this year's squad, but to all the successful teams and players before them that brought respect to a program envied by many.

"If I knew what it was they were doing we'd be better than we are," said Lima Bath coach Tony Roob about what makes the Defiance baseball program so successful.

Where does it start?

Right in the backyard of many a house throughout the community. At a young age the youth in Defiance are introduced to this great game by fathers, grandfathers, brothers and even mothers.

"You get better in this sport in the backyard," Held said about one of the many reasons for success. "The kids that are good in baseball have dads and moms that put time into them. There have been a lot of parents that have played a big part of the success we have had here."

Credit must also go to a feeder system that involves long hours of work by many involved.

"The feeder system is huge," Held said of the Defiance Baseball Association, which works with kids ages 7-15. "That's definitely a key ingredient. Is it an advantage helping you win when you get to high school? It sure has to help.

"From what I've witnessed from a distance is they have great leadership," Held said of the DBA. "They've always gotten kids out and played a lot. They keep it in-house instead of (just) travel which keeps more kids interested. They've also made a concentrated effort on the 13 and 14-year-olds. Those are years that kids often leave the sport."

Dave Maxey has been involved in the DBA for a number of years as coach, president (the past seven years) and currently as the vice president.

"Our first and most important role is to provide a service to the youth of our community and their parents, that will never change," Maxey said. "Another important role is to prepare young players for baseball beyond the DBA. Our organization takes great pride in the success of the high school program. Coach Held and his staff deserve the lion's share of the credit, but we feel good about our contributions as an organization.

"We take great pride in the competition levels in our house leagues and what our all-star teams face. We have always competed as 'Defiance' and never splintered into AAU or travel teams. We believe that is a big reason why our players are better prepared for high school baseball than those that splinter off into their own little groups."

It hasn't gone unnoticed by others.

"Their youth programs are very competitive, well taught and well coached," noted Roob, who coached at St. Marys before taking the reigns of the Bath program. "It's nice to have a feeder system teaching what you teach at your level. Programs around here like Coldwater and St. Henry all have that same mentality passed down."

It takes a lot of work to be successful.

"The pride and passion our men and women volunteers show to this organization is second to none in northwest Ohio and it's evident in our players, coaches, facilities and the DHS baseball program," Maxey said.

The improvement at the high school level at Defiance started with Inselmann. In the three decades (1950-80) prior to Inselmann taking over, DHS had 17 winning seasons, 11 losing seasons and three with a .500 record. There has not been a losing campaign since. In fact, Defiance now stands fifth on the state's all-time win list in baseball, trailing only Cincinnati Elder, Steubenville, Oregon Clay and Coldwater.

"Greg Inselmann built it, he did all the ground work," credited Held. "He took a program that was struggling and turned it into a great program right away. He had passion for baseball.

"I learned a lot from him in my younger years. When I was coaching at Bryan I'd watch him. It wasn't the Xs and Os, there was more to it than that. It was his demeanor and his professionalism. I always respected that since the time he got here."

Upon arriving at Defiance Inselmann had a number of changes that needed to be made.

"When I first came I wanted to change the mindset of the players, make a structured, disciplined program," Inselmann explained. "I also wanted to upgrade the field and give them more pride in the facility. We needed to make baseball a bigger deal than it had been. We wanted to give a sudden jolt that this is new beginning and go from there."

The success was immediate, with Defiance improving from a 12-13 record the year before Inselmann arrived to 22-4 his first season.

"It was huge to have instant success," Inselmann said. "The kids were able to see how all of the hard work paid off. If you're not successful for a number of years you may begin to think why put in all this work. But we won, they saw how the work paid off and how it could take us to a higher level if we continued to do that."

Held has followed Inselmann's lead and the results speak loud and clear.

"They have had two head coaches that are not just outstanding coaches but two very good teachers of the game," noted Elida mentor Mark Thompson, the dean of coaches in the WBL, now in his 21st year. "They get pitching, defensively they're fundamental and offensively they hit the ball. We know when we play them we have to play our best game. You're not going to play Defiance, make mistakes and expect to win.

"One thing we as coaches noticed this year is how much they go 100 percent in everything they do. That caught our eyes. Even in pregame they don't take anything off. They go as hard as they can in pregame and that sets the tone for the rest of the game."

While Inselmann was more noted as a hitting coach, Held's strength came in the way of pitching, his position at the collegiate and professional ranks.

"He's a hitting guy and I'm a pitching guy, but we both are big on defense," Held said. "When I first arrived here I'd pick the brains of kids that were here on what he taught them about hitting.

"One thing I didn't have to change is their mindset. That's the toughest thing to change but I didn't have to do that."

Winning was expected when Inselmann was at the helm and still is today with Held in charge.

And how dominating has DHS been in the WBL?

Beginning in 1992, the year the Bulldogs claimed the Division I state championship, Defiance has won 13 league titles and finished second the other four years. The WBL mark in that span is 137-15.

"As a coaching staff we look at it at times and are amazed," Held admitted. "There are just a lot of things that go into it."

Doing it in a spring sport makes it even tougher according to the veteran DHS mentor.

"Spring is the toughest time to get anything accomplished, athletically and academically," explained Held. "If you play three sports it's tough on you in the spring or if you play one sport and you've waited seven months the pressure to succeed is amazing, especially your senior year.

"A lot of kids are tired by spring but our spring sports at Defiance seem like they've been strong forever. That's a credit to all the coaches. If you look back at the history, spring has probably been when we've been most consistent."

None more so than baseball.

With that consistency and success has come respect.

"Baseball in northwest Ohio has improved a ton in the last 15 years," noted Held, pointing to the facilities as well as more and more players participating in college baseball. "Some guys have been successful and that's opened the doors for others. It's not necessarily that there are better players now, but there's more respect for players in this area. Now they say, 'hey, there's some good baseball up there.' "

Particularly on the mound.

From Mike Perez in the 1960s to Terry Feeney in the 1970s to Mark Wagner in the 1980s, Defiance has been a hotbed for pitching standouts. Scott Taylor, a 1985 DHS graduate, became the first to play in the majors with a brief career on the mound for the Boston Red Sox.

Other pitchers, like Andy Smith, Casey Sanford, Luke Hagerty, Jon Niese and Tyler Burgoon, have sparkled since then either at the collegiate or minor-league level while Christian Snavely went on to play at Ohio State and in the minors as a hitter.

The most famous DHS grad to date as far as baseball is Chad Billingsley, who went straight from Defiance to the minor-league system of the Los Angeles Dodgers right out of high school in 2003 and now is a starting pitcher in the major leagues.

The success on the diamond just never seems to end.

And to think it all started for most in a backyard in Defiance.