ARCHBOLD -- An early two-run double by Joe Keween, and the pitching of Rob Zeigler helped propel Defiance to its 15th district championship in school history as the Bulldogs defeated Sandusky Perkins 5-2 in the Division II district championship game on Saturday night at Archbold's Memorial Park.
Defiance (29-1), ranked No. 1 in the state in D-II, will make its ninth trip to regionals in the past 14 years on Thursday to take on Plain City Jonathan Alder in the semifinals at 5 p.m. at Tiffin. The game will be a rematch of the 2010 state semifinals in which Alder defeated Defiance, 5-0. Wapakoneta will meet Parma Padua in the 2 p.m. regional semifinal at Tiffin.
"You can't take anything for granted in this game and for us to get back to regionals for the ninth time in the past 14 years is special," stated Defiance mentor Tom Held. "It's really is an honor and a privilege to be in the Sweet 16 again. Wapak (whom Defiance beat 4-2 in the regional finals two seasons ago) is going to be there, Jonathan Alder is going to be there ... it's just great for the kids."
The Bulldogs were able to scratch the scoreboard first in the top of the second inning against Perkins' starter Ryan Ebert. With one out, Dom Romero singled to center, before Jacob Moore coaxed a walk on a full-count pitch. In stepped Keween, the left-handed hitting left fielder for DHS.
With the Pirate outfield shading him toward left, Keween hit an Ebert fastball to the gap in left-center, that just got over the head of Quinten Harrington. Romero scored easily, while Moore was right behind in to also score easily after getting a great read on the ball. Keween strolled into second with the double and the Bulldogs had the early 2-0 advantage.
"That was a big hit for Joe, he was able to go oppo (opposite field), they were playing tight to the line and he found a gap," Held said. "We have all the confidence in the world in Joe, and he was able to come through and give us the lead early. Give credit to Jacob Moore too, that was great baserunning by him. He did exactly what he needed to do and it led to a big second run."
Said Keween: "I feel like I've been in a slump lately, so I've been working really hard to get some good swings on the ball. I went up there with confidence, he gave me a pitch to hit and with the left-fielder hugging the line I was able to drop it in there. That felt great."
Perkins coach Ray Neill gave credit to Defiance for coming up with the big hit and taking advantage of mistakes by his club.
"I think we were a little bit nervous with the environment and nervous with our opponent, and when Ryan Ebert struggled with the strike zone a little bit, they took advantage," said Neill. "When they got the hit there to take the lead, it was a big moment early in the game, but I like the way our guys battled back."
DHS took a 5-0 lead just one inning later, taking advantage of a pair of Perkins' miscues in the frame.
Joe Gentile reached on an error with one-out before Zeigler got on via a walk. Shea Murray followed with a perfect bunt single up the line toward third to load the bases. A wild pitch to Romero allowed Gentile to score, before the Defiance DH hit a grounder to second baseman Devin Dubbert with the infield drawn in.
On the play, Dubbert threw home to try and get Zeigler, but his throw was off the mark, allowing the DHS starting pitcher to score. Murray, who was at second, also got a great jump on the play and scored without a throw to the plate to give the visitors the 5-0 advantage.
"Defiance isn't 29-1, No. 1, and perennially one of the top teams in the state for nothing," said Neill. "That's a really good baseball team. The bottom line is we needed to play better today to win and we didn't."
Neill's team scratched back with two runs in the bottom of the third. A wild pitch on a strikeout, a hit batsman Defiance's lone error and another wild pitch led to both runs against Zeigler, who entered the contest 8-1. The righty got a pair of strikeouts to end the threat, however, Perkins' last best chance to score.
"After they scored, I knew I had to bear down and get some outs said Zeigler, who allowed only one hit and finished with seven strikeouts and a pair of walks in the win. "It was a great experience, and a lot of fun, but I wasn't happy with the way I started. I was able to get into a groove as the game went on, and my defense played another great game behind me."
After Zeigler walked Ebert with two outs in the sixth, Held turned to Kidston to try and finish out the game. After giving up just one hit in Defiance's 2-0 win over Central Catholic on Thursday, the righty put down all four batters he faced, including via K, to secure the district championship.
"It seems we have such high expectations for our pitchers, everyone thinks they're going to come out and just dominate and that's not realistic," Held said. "Robbie got tougher tonight as the game went on and he did what he needed to do to give us a chance to win against a very good ballclub.
"It's tough to come back on one-day rest, but Anthony told us he was ready to go and it was a no-brainer decision to bring him in," added Held. "He came in and got the job done."
Now it's on to a rematch with Alder on Thursday.
"That was a great team that beat us in 2010, they went on to win the state championship," concluded Held. "We don't know one thing about them yet, but I'm sure they have good pitching, I'm sure they play good defense ... they bottom line is we have to go there ready to play some good baseball."
The semifinal winners on Thursday will play for the regional championship on Friday at Tiffin at 5 p.m.
Linescore
Defiance 023 000 0 - 5 7 1
Perkins 002 000 0 - 2 1 3
Records: Defiance 29-1, Sandusky Perkins 19-10.
Winning pitcher: Rob Zeigler (5 2/3 innings, 2 runs, 1 hit, 7 strikeouts, 2 walks). Other: Anthony Kidston.
Losing pitcher: Ryan Ebert (2 1/3 innings, 5 runs, 3 hits, 2 strikeouts, 3 walks). Other: Chase Boyer.
Leading hitters: (Defiance, 7 hits) - Joe Keween double, 2 RBI. (Sandusky Perkins, 1 hit).