Derek Turner escaped a pair of jams, and fellow junior Austin Hancock combined with Turner on a three-hit shutout as the Bulldogs defeated Archbold 10-0 in five innings on Tuesday at Defiance’s Booster Field on Senior Day.
Turner, now 4-0 on the season, escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the third inning by striking out the next two Blue Streaks. In the fourth, Archbold (19- 5) loaded the bases again with one out, but Turner
6-3 double play to keep the Streaks off the scoreboard.
“Derek was very good the first couple of innings, but he got himself in trou- ble in the third and fourth with lead-off walks,” stated Defiance mentor Tom Held. “But, to Derek’s credit, I was impressed with how he got himself out of those sit- uations. He struck out two straight batters in the third and got the double play in the fourth. He’s struggled at times with command,
he’s still learning, but he’s fought back all season long.”
Defiance (24-1, No. 1, Division II, Prep Baseball Report, No. 2 OHSBCA) scored three runs in the first inning, before breaking the game open with five runs in the fourth.
In the bottom of the first, back- to-back doubles by Dom Gentile and Rob Zeigler scored Defiance’s first run, while a pair of wild pitches scored Zeigler and DH Austin Yant, who walked earlier
in the frame. Zeigler finished with a single, double and three RBIs. Drake Jimenez also doubled and walked twice for the Bulldogs.
“Dom got us going there in the first and Robbie had another solid day at the plate,” said Held. “Tyson Schnitkey is a good pitch- er,hewasuparound86to87,a couple of wild pitches really hurt him. Archbold had the chance to get back into the game or take the lead, we were just very fortunate they weren’t able to score when they had the chance.
“Drake Jimenez also had a very
good day in the No. 9 hole,” con- tinued Held. “We’ve made hay with some very good hitters in that spot over the years, and Drake did a great job there tonight.”
Defiance returns to action on Friday against arch-rival Napoleon in the Division II sectional finals at 5 p.m. at Defiance, while Archbold hosts Fairview today in D-III sec- tional finals action at Archbold beginning at 4:30 p.m.
“We’ve got Eric Stapleton and Tyler Batt (former DHS pitchers now in college) coming back to throw to us to get us ready for
Zach Willeman of Napoleon,” con- cluded Held. “We’re also going to take the next two days to shore up our defense, work on our first to third offense and do little things so we’re prepared for Friday.”
Archbold 000 00 - 0 3 0 Defiance 301 51 - 10 8 0 Records: Defiance 24-1, Archbold 19-5. Winning pitcher: Derek Turner (4 innings, 0
runs, 3 hits, 5 strikeouts, 5 walks). Other: Austin Hancock.
Losing pitcher: Tyson (2 innings, 3 runs, 2 hits, 3 strikeouts, 2 walks). Other: Stuart Wyse.
Leading hitters: (Archbold, 3 hits). (Defiance, 8 hits) - Dom Gentile double; Rob Zeigler single, double, 3 RBIs; Drake Jimenez double.