SHERWOOD -- Tyler Batt continues to impress for the Bulldogs of Defiance.
The senior righty ran his record to a perfect 4-0 and kept his ERA at a spotless 0.00 after throwing six strong innings in Defiance's 10-0 victory over Fairview on Monday in blustery conditions in a "Crush Cancer" game in which both teams wore pinks jerseys.
Batt allowed just four hits and one walk while striking out six in the win.
"Tyler knows how to pitch, and what's amazing about it is that he's never really worked at it that much in the offseason," stated Defiance mentor Tom Held. "What he did today was what any good pitcher does ... he got ahead of hitters and he threw strikes. It was not an easy day to pitch, but he gave us another tremendous performance."
Fairview coach Andy Singer was also impressed with the DHS righty.
"Tyler threw extremely well," said Singer. "Our guys talked about being extra-aggressive, but that can go both ways. We didn't square up balls early in the count, and after that he hit his spots. We got behind in the count and it was difficult to adjust."
While Batt was keeping the Apaches (13-6) off the scoreboard, the Bulldogs (15-1, ranked No. 2 in the state in the second OHSBCA poll of the year) were able to take advantage of walks and two Fairview errors.
A throwing error in the second inning by Fairview starting pitcher Kyle Thomas led to Jacob Moore scoring a Defiance run, while a RBI single by Austin Hancock plated Joe Keween. Anthony Kidston, who batted lead-off for DHS for the second straight game, walked, stole second and third, and scored on a RBI ground out by Rob Zeigler for a 3-0 advantage after 2 1/2 innings.
"I liked the way we played offensively, I thought our approach at the plate was very good," Held said. "We knew with the wind blowing straight in we'd have to get the ball on the ground and find holes. We did that and I thought we ran the bases well."
Leading 5-0 after four innings, the visitors broke it open with four runs in the fifth inning, taking advantage of more walks and another Fairview error.
Keween reached with on a one-out walk, before taking second on a ball in the dirt. Dom Gentile walked, and both runners moved up 90 feet on a double steal. After Hancock lined out, Kidston was intentionally walked to load the bases for Joe Gentile.
The DHS catcher followed with a liner to center that Tyler Nusbaum couldn't come up with, resulting in an error. Keween and Dom Gentile scored on the play, with Kidston moving to third. After Joe Gentile stole second, Zeigler delivered his second and third RBI of the day with a single to left before the Apaches could stop the bleeding.
"If we look at the two errors, that led to six of their 10 runs," said Singer, whose team visits Wayne Trace today. "It's things like that, when you're not able to execute and make plays, it comes back to bite you. We told the kids going into it that we needed to limit the amount of baserunners and mistakes ... it's part of the game and hopefully we learn from it."
Having the lead made it easy for Batt to go out and do his thing.
"It was tough getting adjusted early because of the conditions, but after the first inning I felt pretty comfortable," said Batt. "When you have the lead like I did today, that makes it even easier."
Defiance added a run in the seventh to move in front, 10-0. Defiance senior lefty Taylor Cooper came on and set down Fairview 1-2-3 in the bottom of the frame to finish off the victory. The Bulldogs now head to St. Marys today.
"It's too early to tell, but I like the change we've made in the order with AK (Kidston), Joe Gentile, Robbie (Zeigler) and Shea (Murray) up there one through four," Held said. "Those guys make it tough on pitchers, and when you add in guys at the bottom who can do some damage, they're getting on base for those guys at that top.
"Fairview is a good team, they always compete with us and getting out of here with a win is very good," concluded Held. "The meaning behind this game was also special with it being a 'Crush Cancer' contest. It meant something to the kids to know they were playing for people who are suffering with this awful disease."