TIFFIN — Defiance left little doubt.
The No. 1-ranked Bulldogs steamrolled their way into the Division II regional championship for the second straight season after defeating Parma Heights Holy Name 15-1 in five innings on Thursday at Tiffin University’s Heminger Field.
Defiance (28-1, No. 1 Prep Baseball Report, No. 1 OHSBCA) scored early and often in ending the season for the Green Wave (15-13). The Bulldogs now advance to the regional finals on Friday at 2 p.m. to face Granville (22-6), a 6-5 winner over Wapakoneta (18-6) in the regional opener on Thursday.
“Our guys should all come in tomorrow feeling good about themselves,” stated Defiance mentor Tom Held, whose team finished with 12 hits in the victory. “When you’ve had that great at-bat, it’s fresh in your mind and it should help you feel good and give you confidence. Hopefully we can carry that over into tomorrow.”
Holy Name head coach Dennis Markiewicz knew his team lost to a better opponent.
“That’s a very, very good baseball team, I can see why they were  27-1 coming in here,” said Markiewicz. “(Rob) Zeigler is the real deal, hitting and pitching. I could see them going all the way. I think someday we might see Zeigler pitching in the majors too.”
Rob Zeiger, Defiance’s right-handed ace and a Kentucky signee, gave himself a 2-0 lead before he even stepped on the mound.
With one out and Dom Gentile on first after getting hit by a pitch, Zeigler hit a bomb over the left-center field fence off Holy Name starter Dave Javor for an early 2-0 DHS advantage. Holy Name got an unearned run in the bottom of the first, but nothing more.
“I hadn’t gotten a hit yet in the tournament, so I went back to basics and took some BP (batting practice) with my dad. That pitch was up a little bit, I got a hold of it and it went out,” said Zeigler about his fifth homer of the season. “As a team we’ve put a lot of emphasis on our hitting, and now guys are finding their stroke ... it’s the perfect time.”
After Holy Name scored in the first, they threatened twice more, but were unable to solve Zeiger, who allowed two hits while striking out eight and walking two in four innings on the bump. The righty threw just 64 pitches in the victory.
“Robbie was throwing very hard today,” said Held. “He was up in the zone early, but he corrected that and once he started staying down, he was very good. Once we opened the lead, he could just go at hitters and challenge guys. That’s exactly what he did.
“Robbie can be ready now if we need him, we weren’t going to pull him unless we got up by 10 runs, and Ethan (Willitzer) came in and did a nice job,” added Held. “But, Weston (Rivers) is getting the ball (Friday). I have all the confidence in the world in him.”
Defiance plated six runs in the second and six more in the fifth to roll out to the 15-1 advantage.  Austin Hancock tripled, Dom Gentile had a pair of singles and three runs scored, Zeigler finished with a single, a home run, three RBIs and three runs scored, Adam Schaffer connected on a three-run homer, Joe Keween had a pair of singles, Derek Turner smacked a double and Alek Smith came off the bench doubled.
“Austin Hancock hit the ball hard four times today and only had one hit and Adam Schaffer, our No. 4 hitter ... now the scouting report on him is he can bunt and go yard,” Held said. “We need that when teams walk Robbie like they did today (twice intentionally). Dom Gentile continues to get on base, Alek Smith comes off the bench, Derek Turner had a solid double ... we just got production up and down the order.” Said Schaffer: “After I saw Rob get walked (intentionally in the fifth inning), I had to hurry up and get my batting gloves on. Coach Held called timeout and told me that they didn’t have any respect for me, and just prove to them I can hit. I got a pitch inside, I turned on it and drove it.”
Zeigler, who suffered the loss in last year’s 6-1 setback in the regional finals to Wapakoneta, is looking forward to Friday’s encounter with Granville.
“It means a lot after getting knocked off last year, so getting the chance to get back to the regional finals is exciting,” said Zeigler. “But getting there isn’t the goal, we have bigger goals than that.”
Granville coach Vince Ghiloni was asked following his team’s win over Wapakoneta what he knew about Defiance and Holy Name. Ghiloni admitted not much about the Green Wave, but that he did know about the Bulldogs.
“We know those are monsters right there (pointing at Defiance) ... looks like a men’s softball team to me,” joked Ghiloni. “I don’t know much about Holy Name, but I know how good Defiance is, everybody does. I just told the kids, if we limit our mistakes we’ll be fine. We don’t care who we play, we’ll give it our best.”
Friday’s game has been moved from 5 p.m. to 2 p.m. because of the threat of weather.

Defiance        261  06  -  15  12  2
Holy Name    100  00  -    0    3  3
Records: Defiance 28-1, Holy Name 15-13.
Winning pitcher: Rob Zeigler (4 innings, 1 run, 2 hits, 8 strikeouts, 2 walks). Other: Ethan Willitzer.
Losing pitcher: Dave Javor (1 2/3 innings, 8 runs, 5 hits, 1 strikeout, 1 walk). Other: Alex Bierut.
Leading hitters: (Defiance, 12 hits) - Austin Hancock triple; Dom Gentile 2 singles, 3 runs; Rob Zeiger single, home run, 3 RBI, 3 runs; Adam Schaffer single, home run, 3 RBI; Alek Smith double; Joe Keween 2 singles; Derek Turner double. (Holy Name, 3 hits).