Defiance locked up a share of its seventh straight Western Buckeye League baseball championship and its 23rd in school history on Friday afternoon at Booster Field ... but visiting Celina didn't make it easy.
A pair of late runs and solid defense helped Defiance to a 4-1 win, its 67th straight in WBL play. Defiance (21-1, No. 1, Division II Prep Baseball Report, No. 2, OHSBCA) can earn its seventh straight outright crown with a victory Monday at Lima Bath.
"It feels great, this team has done a great job ... they've won the games they've needed to win," stated Defiance mentor Tom Held. "Wapakoneta was the team to beat, but our guys have done a good job to get to this point. If they can win Monday, they can earn it outright and I think you're going to see a little more energy from this club on Monday."
Defiance came out flat on Friday and Celina (13-13, 3-6 WBL) almost took advantage behind senior righty Riley Luebke. The home team was able to take a 2-0 lead after two innings, scoring on a bases-loaded walk to Dom Romero in the first inning and a passed ball in the second that scored Drake Jimenez.
But, in the third, Celina scored on a RBI single by Aric Fickert off DHS starter Derek Turner, as the visitors threatened with runners at first and second with just one out. Turner, however, induced Kyle Berry to hit into a 6-3 double play to end the threat.
For Celina head coach Drew Braun, that play was a microcosm of his team's season.
"It was a tailor made ball for a double play," said Braun. "The ball was hit hard, right to the shortstop as he was squeezing the bag, I don't think our runner was even halfway down the line yet. But, that happens in baseball.
"Not coming up with a big hit has been a year-long thing for us, we just haven't been able to come up with a clutch hit when we need it," added Braun. "The thing we take from this is that in the last two days we lost to Wapakoneta 4-2 and to Defiance 4-1, two of the best teams in our league. Hopefully, our guys know we can play with anybody."
Turner (4-0), who went four innings to earn the win in the first WBL start of his career, gave DHS some breathing room in the fifth when his double to wall in left-center scored Dom Romero, who had walked with one out. One inning later, a RBI single by Austin Yant scored Austin Hancock, who was on base four times in the game, to give the home Bulldogs a 4-1 advantage.
"The last few games, the ball just looks fat, like a watermelon out there," said Hancock, who scored two of Defiance's four runs. "It felt good to get some hits today, score some runs and help this team win a share of the title."
Turner was excited to start the game, happy to win and contribute with the bat.
"It felt great to get my first WBL start, but it was a battle," said Turner, who gave up four hits and struck out seven. "I couldn't get my curveball across, but I was able to get my change-up across when I needed to. I give all the credit to my defense, they had my back, like they do for all the pitchers.
"It felt great to drive that run in the fifth, all I was thinking was see the ball and smash it," added Turner. "I had been getting behind in the count a lot lately, so to see a ball early in the count I could hit hard was great. It's feels good to know we got a share of the title today, but we want to win it outright again."
Despite improving to 21-1, both Held and senior catcher Joe Keween know that Defiance needs to bring more energy if it expects to finish the season strong.
"For whatever reason there was really no sense of urgency today ... some guys tried to bring the energy, but Joe Keween can't do it by himself," began Held. "This team is as talented as a lot of teams we've had, but they don't prepare like our great teams. If they don't figure it out quickly, it's going to bite them. They were focused for Wapak and they were focused for Shawnee, but they need to dig deep and get mentally tough, quickly."
Said Keween: "We've won a lot of games and played great at times, but we still need to be ready to go when we step on that field. The loss to Central Catholic showed us we're not unbeatable and we need that energy on the field and off the field or it could come back and bite us. It has to be the whole team. When we all focus and get together on the same page, that's when we're really going to take off."
Defiance will be back in action at Bath on Monday.
Celina 001 000 0 - 1 4 0
Defiance 110 011 x - 4 8 0
Records: Defiance 21-1 (8-0 WBL), Celina 13-13 (3-6 WBL).
Winning pitcher: Derek Turner (4 innings, 1 run, 4 hits, 7 strikeouts, 4 walks). Other: Weston Rivers.
Losing pitcher: Riley Luebke (5 innings, 3 runs, 6 hits, 5 strikeouts, 8 walks). Other: Jimmy Luebke.
Leading hitters: (Defiance, 8 hits) - Austin Hancock single, 2 doubles; Derek Turner single, double. (Celina, 4 hits).