CELINA -- Defiance ran its Western Buckeye League winning streak to 57 games with a 10-0 shutout of Celina on Friday night.
Rob Zeigler tossed a one-hitter while walking one batter and striking out nine for the Bulldogs.
Weston Rivers rounded out the shutout with two innings in relief.
"Robbie really started to settle in," said DHS skipper Tom Held. "He got out of a little jam in the second inning. He gave us a good solid five innings and Weston Rivers was able to finish it off the last two innings. Both of them threw really well."
The Bulldogs' pitching staff has blanked the opposition 11 times thus far this season, including four straight shutouts and three last week."
"Pitching was solid all week long," said Held. "We have a big week ahead of us with two league games and tournament, so hopefully that can continue."
Dom Romero led Defiance at the plate with three singles while Joe Gentile, Zeigler and Joe Keween each hit a single and a double.
"Dom Romero and Joe Keween had really good days at the plate," lauded Held. "Dom was on all three times ... he scored for us early, he knocked in a run early to give us the lead. I thought those guys and the middle of the order took advantage of some opportunities."
Defiance has a busy week ahead with hosting Lima Bath on Monday, traveling to Archold on Tuesday, plays in the sectional finals on Wednesday against Napoleon, plays Toledo Start on Thursday at Fifth Third Field in Toledo and hosts Wapakoneta on Friday.
"Bath is a team that's very solid," said Held. "Their league record isn't probably as good as we expected, but overall they're having a good year and they're a good team. Tyler Batt will get the ball for us on Monday and hopefully he can get the job done for us."
Linescore
Defiance 002 151 1 - 10 13 2
Celina 000 000 0 - 0 1 2
Records: Defiance 21-1 (7-0 WBL), Celina 11-11 (2-6 WBL).
Winning pitcher: Rob Zeigler (5 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 9 strikeouts, 1 walk). Other: Weston Rivers.
Losing pitcher: Riley Luebke (4 innings, 5 runs, 4 hits, 2 strikeouts, 5 walks). Other: Kyle Berry.
Leading hitters: (Defiance, 13 hits) - Joe Gentile single, double; Rob Zeigler single, double; Shea Murray 2 singles; Dom Romero 3 singles; Joe Keween single, double. (Celina, 1 hit).