Twice during Monday’s Western Buckeye League baseball game at Defiance’s Booster Field Ottawa-Glandorf had a runner at third base with less than one out. A run in either situation would have given the Titans the lead, or tied the game. Both times DHS lefty Weston Rivers recorded big strikeouts and got some help defensively to keep the visitors off the scoreboard in Defiance’s 5-0 victory.
The “Playing Hardball Against ALS” contest played in the rain was the 61st straight win in the WBL for the ‘Dogs (11-0, 2-0 WBL, No. 1, Division II, Prep Baseball Report and Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association), who were able to scratch their way to five runs off O-G starter Matt Warnecke. The righty battled, but took his first loss (3-1).
“What I really liked out of Weston Rivers was that he didn’t let the conditions get to him, you would have thought it was sunny and 75 out there,” stated Defiance mentor Tom Held. “He was all business and he set the tone. He had an outstanding performance.”
Ottawa-Glandorf head coach Nick Miller also gave credit to Rivers.
“In the first inning we had a guy on third with only one out but we couldn’t get a hit or even a fly ball,” said Miller. “Weston Rivers really bore down. A run there could have made a big difference. We were in the same situation in the fifth in a one-run game ... I have to tip my cap to Rivers, he was better than our hitters today.”
With Rivers holding the Titans (No. 23 Division II, Prep Baseball Report) to two hits and with his defense making plays behind him, it was up to the Defiance offense to get the job done.
In the bottom of the second, a double by Adam Schaffer, a sacrifice bunt by Dom Gentile and a RBI ground out to the right side by Joe Keween gave DHS a 1-0 lead.
With Rivers and Warnecke, who kept the Bulldogs off-balance with his curve, fighting it out in an old-fashioned pitchers’ duel, it wasn’t until the fifth that Defiance took control.
A full-count walk to lead-off man Drake Jimenez got DHS off on the right foot. Back-to-back bunt singles by Austin Hancock and Dom Gentile, who touched first without a throw when O-G failed to cover the bag, loaded the bases for Rob Zeigler.
The senior, who leads Defiance in RBIs, added No. 12 when his sacrifice fly to center scored Jimenez. When the throw home was off the mark, Hancock and Gentile each moved up 90 feet. A wild pitch to Derek Turner scored Hancock and DHS was in business.
“We made a few mistakes mentally – like the one on covering the bunt – that we normally don’t do,” Miller said. “They took advantage of that, which good teams like that do. They were looking for one little break to bust it open and that’s what happened.”
Said Held: “We had the small ball working today against a very good pitcher. Matt Warnecke got his off-speed over and he was very effective. We got it done against a very good O-G team. They’re going to knock some people off before it’s all over.”
The home team added two runs in the sixth with two outs in the books. A walk to Keween, a pinch-hit RBI double by Austin Yant and a RBI single by Hancock pushed the lead to 5-0 before Rivers finished off the two-hit shutout in the seventh.
“I got the strikes I needed today and my defense played great behind me,” said Rivers, now 4-0 on the year. “I knew I had to bear down in those situations (with runners on third and only one out) and I had confidence in myself and in my teammates.”
Held also credited his defense for making plays in the win.
“Our defense played great in these conditions. Although we had a couple of errors, our guys made some big plays,” Held said. “Our outfielders made some big catches, Dom Gentile made a great play at third, Austin Hancock made some tough plays at short and Joe Keween did an outstanding job behind the plate. You can’t ask for more than that.”
Defiance returns to action on Thursday when it travels to Sylvania to face Southview before hitting the road on Friday in a big WBL showdown against Wapakoneta.
The teams wore T-shirts on Tuesday to bring awareness and help further the fight against ALS. The PHAALS game is just one of many high school baseball games being played this year to help raise awareness. For more information go to www.phaals.org.

                                                         Linescore
O-G           000  000  0  -  0  2  3
Defiance    010  022  x  -  5  6  2
Records: Defiance 11-0 (2-0 WBL), Ottawa-Glandorf 7-2 (0-2 WBL).
Winning pitcher: Weston Rivers (7 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, 6 strikeouts, 0 walks).
Losing pitcher: Matt Warnecke (6 innings, 5 runs, 6 hits, 4 strikeouts, 2 walks).
Leading hitters: (Ottawa-Glandorf, 2 hits) - Ben Deitering double. (Defiance, 6 hits) - Austin Hancock 2 singles; Dom Gentile single double; Adam Schaffer double; Austin Yant double.