A season ago, players from Defiance walked off Booster Field after watching their sectional championship streak end at 12 following a 3-0 loss to Napoleon. On Wednesday afternoon back at Booster Field, the Bulldogs started a new streak after rolling past the Wildcats 8-0 in Division II sectional title tilt action.
Senior right-hander Anthony Kidston pitched a two-hitter and struck out nine in helping to lead Defiance, the No. 1 team in the state in D-II, to the victory.
"Our gameplan coming in was to be aggressive early in the count and sit on the change-up, I don't think we did either one," stated Napoleon coach Justin Firks. "That's a credit to him (Kidston), he made good pitches ... he's a good pitcher."
Defiance mentor Tom Held was very pleased with the performance of his ace.
"He was dominant at times today, but he has been all season," said Held. "When you're a pitcher like him who pitches off of feel and can command his off-speed pitches, you better get to him early. After that first inning, he really settled in, made some adjustments and threw the ball well."
The best chance for Napoleon (11-11) to get on the scoreboard came in the first inning. Tyler Miller was hit by a pitch and was quickly sacrificed to second on a bunt by Tyler Torrez. Kidston, however, struck out Collin Parcher before catcher Joe Gentile gunned down Miller trying to steal third to end the threat.
"In that first inning I had a little adrenaline going, Miller is a tough out for me, but after that I was able to settle in," said Kidston, now 7-0. "After losing to them last year, it felt good to play well and start another sectional streak back up again."
Defiance (24-1) scored single runs in the first and second innings to grab a 2-0 lead off Miller, who struggled at times with his control. A passed ball allowed Kidston to score in the first after he doubled to start the game, while a RBI double in the second frame by Joe Gentile scored brother Dom Gentile after Dom had walked to start the inning.
The Bulldogs made it a 4-0 game after four innings, coming up with big two-out hits.
With two outs already in the books, Kidston hammered a Miller offering deep over the fence in left-center to give DHS a 3-0 lead. After Joe Gentile reached on an error, Rob Zeigler stroked a double to right-center to make it a 4-0 game.
"Good teams take advantage of opportunities and today they had some big two-out hits that allowed them to pull away," Firks said. "I thought we hung close early on, we just weren't able to do anything offensively to put any pressure on them."
Said Held: "Tyler Miller had pretty good stuff today, although walks did get him in some trouble. When we got those third and fourth runs, it was huge because with the way Anthony was throwing, it just made it tough for them mentally."
With Kidston firmly in control, DHS put on the finishing touches with a four-run sixth.
The big blow came off the bat of Zeigler, who after falling behind Napoleon reliever Brian Flowers 0-2, smashed a three-run homer to left that plated Kidston and Joe Gentile for a 7-0 lead. Jacob Moore later scored Shea Murray with a RBI single to make it 8-0.
"After the first few strikes, he threw the ball low and I was able to lay off a couple of those pitches," said Zeigler about his fourth homer of the season. "He finally left a ball up, I was able to turn on it and it went out."
Zeigler finished with four RBI to pace Defiance, while Kidston scored three times. The Bulldogs now advance to district semifinal action at Archbold on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. to take on the winner of Friday's contest between Toledo Central Catholic and Eastwood.
Linescore
Napoleon 000 000 0 - 0 2 1
Defiance 110 204 x - 8 9 1
Records: Defiance 24-1, Napoleon 11-11.
Winning pitcher: Anthony Kidston (7 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, 9 strikeouts, 0 walks).
Losing pitcher: Tyler Miller (5 innings, 4 runs, 5 hits, 3 strikeouts, 5 walks). Other: Brian Flowers.
Leading hitters: (Napoleon, 2 hits). (Defiance, 9 hits) - Anthony Kidston double, home run, 3 runs scored; Joe Gentile single, double; Rob Zeigler double, home run, 4 RBI; Shea Murray double.