ARCHBOLD -- Locked in a scoreless contest in the ACME state championship with Perrysburg, Defiance went back to the winning formula that it had used all summer long: small ball. Two bunt singles in the bottom of the eighth inning propelled Defiance to its third consecutive ACME state title, a 1-0 win over Perrysburg. Gage Cordray's walk-off RBI provided the win.

With one out, facing left-handed Perrysburg pitcher Kyle Dekoninck, Brice Rankin bunted for a base hit down the third base line.

"The bunt was actually my idea," Rankin said. "I'm not very good hitting against lefties, and I knew I needed to get on base some way. It was probably one of the best bunts that I've ever had."

Rankin then advanced to second on a wild pitch, so Defiance ACME skipper Joe Keween called on Jimmy Bauer to lay a bunt down the third base line. After fouling off the first bunt attempt, Bauer laid another bunt down that third base line, for another hit.

"Coach said that with their third baseman playing back, if I could successfully get a bunt down the line, I had a good chance of getting a hit, which I was able to do," Bauer said. "It's great to win the ACME state and a great way to start off my senior year. Hopefully, we can continue our success next spring."

After Bauer's bunt, with runners on first and third and Tyler Weaver at bat, Perrysburg coach Mark Kruzel called for a risky intentional walk, to load the bases. Since pitcher Dekoninck had already forced Defiance to hit into 12 ground outs, Perrysburg was looking to get a force out at home, on a ground out.

But Gage Cordray crossed up the Perrysburg defense by hitting a deep ground ball to the shortstop. Knowing that he would have to hurry to get any chance of throwing the runner out at home, the Yellow Jackets shortstop was unable to field the ball cleanly and Rankin raced home with the winning run. "When I came to bat, I just knew that I had to get the job done, either hitting the ball hard on the ground, or to hit the ball in the air into the outfield, any way that I could bring the winning run home," Cordray said. "I had a one ball, two strike count on me and was looking for a fast ball, because that was Dekoninck's best pitch. It was a fast ball that I hit and though I didn't make really good contact, I hit it hard enough to get the job done. It feels awesome to knock in the winning run to get our team a state championship."

It was the third time Defiance and Perrysburg matched up this summer. All three contests involved strong pitching and tight contests, with two games decided in extra innings. Perrysburg won the first encounter in early season tournament, 1-0. Defiance won the most important games, though, getting two wins over the Yellow Jackets at the state tournament, in eight innings (3-1 and 1-0.)

"It was a tough loss, but I'm extremely proud of the guys," Kruzel said. "We played real well and went toe to toe with a very good team. Kyle Dekoninck pitched a really good game for us and they beat us on two really good bunts. The first one (by Rankin) caught us off guard. And on the second bunt, there was just no way we could make a play on that one. But I'm extremely proud of how our summer has progressed and we are looking forward to a successful campaign next spring."

With Defiance unable to break through in the first seven innings against Dekoninck, the Bulldogs stayed in it, thanks to another strong pitching performance by Shay Smiddy. Smiddy (6-0) did not allow any runs in his outings. In his final three wins respectively, he surrendered just two hits, no hits and two hits again. The efforts earned Smiddy the ACME state tournament's Most Valuable Player.

"I'm so unbelievably proud of Shay Smiddy and how he has pitched this summer," Keween said. "He stepped up big and he stepped up even bigger in the tournament, which I didn't think was possible."

Smiddy did have some control problems in the game, walking six batters. But he also had 10 strikeouts and the Bulldog defense recorded eight ground ball and four fly ball putouts.

"I was struggling with getting my fast ball over for strikes, but Perrysburg is a very good hitting team, so I was trying to keep the ball away (from where they like it)," Smiddy said. "However, I did get some guys out with my fast ball,. The big thing was that my curve ball was working and coach called for more curves today that normal. The big thing is that I can rely on the defense behind me to make plays and I have confidence in my catcher Gage, to hang in there and block my bad pitches."

"I just go out there and try to do my best, but what helps both of us is that we've been playing together as pitcher and catcher a long time," Cordray said. "We've played together since age 13, when we played on the same travel team. So we're very familiar with each other."

Defiance's Braden Frederick, Smiddy and Bauer were named to the all-tournament team along with Archbold's Ben Bucklew, Xenia's Blaise Denney, Perrysburg's Justin Beer and Kyle Dekoninck along with Coldwater's Kyle McKibben and Kraig Schoenherr.

Along with winning the junior ACME state title earlier this month, Defiance became the first baseball program to win both ACME titles in the same season.

Linescore

Perrysburg 000 000 00 - 0 2 3

Defiance 000 000 01 - 1 6 1

Records: Defiance 27-5, Perrysburg 25-2-1.

Winning pitcher: Shay Smiddy (8 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, 10 strikeouts, 6 walks).

Losing pitcher: Kyle Dekoninck (8 innings, 1 run, 6 hits, 3 strikeouts, 2 walks).

Leading hitters: (Perrysburg) - Chaz Westfall 2 singles. (Defiance) - Tyler Weaver 2 singles.