PAULDING -- The Defiance baseball team continued to get solid pitching early in the season as Weston Rivers and Taylor Cooper combined on a one-hitter in a 21-0 five-inning victory over Paulding on Monday.
Rivers, a lefty went the first four frames for the unbeaten Bulldogs (5-0), allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out nine. Cooper pitched a 1-2-3 fifth frame to close out the win. In five games, Defiance pitchers have only allowed eight hits.
"Our pitchers have done a nice job so far this season, and Weston just carried that on today," stated Defiance mentor Tom Held. "He didn't have great command of his knuckleball, but he got his fastball and curveball over for strikes and he was ahead of hitters the whole game. It was good to get Taylor and inning today as well. He hadn't thrown yet, so that was big for him to come in and pitch the way he did."
Defiance got all the runs it needed in the first inning, scoring three times against Paulding starter Javier Gonzalez.
Jacob Moore reached on an error, before stealing second and advancing to third on a wild pitch. Joe Keween followed with a walk and a quick steal of second. Anthony Kidston drove in Moore with a sacrifice fly, before Keween scored on two straight passed balls.
Joe Gentile then drew a walk for Defiance, before moving to second on a single by Rob Zeigler. Gentile stole third before scoring on an error on a ball hit by Shea Murray. Paulding finished with five errors on the day.
Defiance added a pair of runs each in the second and third innings and three more in the fourth, before closing out the Panthers with 11 runs in the fifth. The Bulldogs finished with 15 hits, with Gentile driving in five runs on a pair of singles. Kidston finished with two doubles, Moore a pair of singles, and Austin Hancock and Alek Smith each doubled in the victory.
"The positive thing about today is that a lot of players got a lot of at-bats and that will only help our confidence as we move forward," said Held. "Joe Gentile had a good day which was great to see, he had been struggling a bit, and guys off our bench came in and produced. Alek Smith, Tyler Batt and Dom Romero all got hits and that's what we want to see. When guys come in off the bench, we want to see who handles themselves well and who understand situations."
Defiance returns to action today when it opens Western Buckeye League play on the road at Kenton at 5 p.m. The Bulldogs enter the game riding a 50-game league win streak.
"The last time we went down there they almost got us with Dace Kime on the hill," concluded Held about a 10-inning with for the 'Dogs. "It's going to be a challenge, but we're looking forward to it. Robbie (Zeigler) is getting the ball, we'll show up and see what happens."
Linescore
Defiance 322 3(11) - 21 15 0
Paulding 000 00 - 0 1 8
Winning pitcher: Weston Rivers (4 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 9 strikeouts, 1 walk). Other: Taylor Cooper
Losing pitcher: Javier Gonzalez (4 innings, 10 runs, 8 hits, 1 strikeout, 3 walks) Others: Alberto Flint, Dylan Egler.
Leading hitters: (Defiance, 15 hits) - Jacob Moore 2 singles; Joe Gentile 2 singles, 5 RBI; Anthony Kidston 2 doubles; Austin Hancock double; Alek Smith double. (Paulding 1 hit).