VAN WERT -- Coming off its first loss of 2013 on Thursday to Toledo Central Catholic, Defiance was looking to put that feeling behind it when it made the trip to Van Wert on Friday in WBL play.
Leading 3-2 heading into the fourth inning, the Bulldogs exploded for nine runs on the way to a 15-2 victory over the Cougars in five innings that stretched its league win streak to 64 games.
Defiance (17-1, 5-0 WBL, No. 1 Division II, Prep Baseball Report, OHSBCA) is now halfway to what it hopes is its seventh consecutive league crown.
"I saw today what I wanted I see, the guys were focused early and they really did not want to replay yesterday's ballgame ... it was a new day and that's how they treated it," stated Defiance mentor Tom Held. "We had some adversity in the inning where they scored the two runs. They got some infield hits, we booted one and you could sense some panic setting in. But what I liked, our guys responded and put nine big runs on the board. I was very pleased with the demeanor of our team."
The Bulldogs led 3-0 after scoring a pair of runs on RBI singles by Rob Zeigler and Adam Schaffer in the third inning, and appeared to be in cruise control in the bottom of the frame.
Zeigler was cruising on the hill for DHS, and after striking out the first two batters for Van Wert (12-8, 3-2 WBL), No. 9 hitter Justice Tussing broke up a perfect game with a single to left. When Joey Hurless legged out an infield single on a close play, the Cougars had two runners on.
Nathan Stoller followed with a slow roller to second, but the speedy Hurless beat the throw to second on the play, loading the bases. Brandt Henry then hit a grounder up the middle that Defiance shortstop Austin Hancock couldn't control, allowing Tussing and Hurless to score. Zeigler, now 5-0 on the season, got Tyler Williams to fly out to end the threat. The righty finished with seven Ks.
Leading 3-2, the Bulldogs put the game away in the fourth.
A walk to Joe Keween started the carousel, as DHS sent 13 batters to the plate. When the dust had settled, the Bulldogs scored nine runs on eight hits, including back-to-back-to-back doubles by Hancock, Dom Gentile and Zeigler, to grab a 12-2 advantage.
"The top of the order (Hancock, Gentile, Zeigler) was incredible, I don't know how many times they were on base and the bottom of the order (Joe Keween, Dom Romero) was on all game too," Held said. "When you have 8-9-1-2-3 ... when you have five guys on base in a row all game you're going to score runs. Last night we couldn't get big hits, but tonight we just kept it going and going."
Van Wert head coach Charlie Witten gave credit to Defiance for hitting the ball hard.
"We walked the lead-off hitter in that inning and any time you do that, you're asking for trouble," Witten said. "Defiance is a good team, give them credit for hitting the ball. I don't know what else I can say ... they earned it."
Hancock and Romero were also happy with the way the team responded.
"It was huge to bounce back the way we did, games like this one define the type of team we can be," said Romero. "If we were an average team, we would have cracked when we gave up the two runs. We didn't panic, we played Defiance baseball the way we know how to play it."
Said Hancock: "In that big inning, once we started hitting it was a chain reaction and we just kept it going. It was big to come out here and respond today. We really whacked the ball around."
The visitors added three runs in the fifth on the way to the 15-2 victory. Now Held is looking for his team to put together another win streak as it heads down the stretch of the season.
"I think offensively we're in good shape, I think our pitching is very good and defensively we had been so good the first 16 games, so I think we'll be okay," concluded Held. "We're still playing good baseball, now we've got to build on this one and get the mental stuff out of the way."
Hancock finished with a single and two doubles for DHS. Gentile had a single and a double, Zeigler had a pair of singles and a double, Schaffer had a pair of singles, Weston Rivers smacked a triple, Keween walked twice and singled twice and Romero laced three singles.
Defiance is back in action on Saturday at Elmwood.
Defiance 012 93 - 15 17 1
Van Wert 002 00 - 0 2 2
Records: Defiance 17-1 (5-0 WBL), Van Wert 12-8 (3-2 WBL).
Winning pitcher: Rob Zeigler (4 innings, 2 runs, 2 hits, 7 strikeouts, 1 walk). Other: Weston Rivers.
Losing pitcher: Brandt Henry (3 innings, 7 runs, 10 hits, 2 strikeouts, 2 walks). Other: Joey Hurless.
Leading hitters: (Defiance, 17 hits) - Austin Hancock single, 2 doubles; Dom Gentile single, double; Rob Ziegler 2 singles, double; Adam Schaffer 2 singles; Weston Rivers triple; Joe Keween 2 singles; Dom Romero 3 singles. (Van Wert, 2 hits).