Sat Nov 21 2009
By MIKE VERNOT
Defiance had to rally but in the end it came out the victors as the 2009 Defiance County ACME champions by defeating Fairview 16-5 on Friday afternoon. Though the score doesn't show it, Fairview hung with Defiance until the sixth inning when the wheels came off for good.
Fairview jumped out an early 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first but Alex Nofziger shut the door on the Apaches until the fifth frame.
"They came out and scored four quickly," explained Defiance mentor Mark Elliott. "But Nofs (Nofziger) got tough and held them and pitched well after that. He shut them down until the fifth when they pushed a run across, but that was big because we had just scored two and to answer right back. Overall, everyone swung pretty well today ... 14 hits and 16 runs show that."
Fairview knew that four runs would not be enough against a good team like Defiance according to Fairview mentor Tyler Miller.
"One thing, they are a very good team and they are not going to stop," he commented. "They just continually keep coming after you."
Defiance chipped away at the lead with a home run by Dace Kime in the first and fourth, another by Aaron Helland in the third and two more runs in the fifth to take a 5-4 lead. But Fairview tied it right back up when Cody Main reached on a dropped third strike and made his way around the bases via the steal at second and third. An overthrow at third sent him home to knot the game at five apiece.
Defiance came right back with a five-run fifth by sending nine batters to the plate. With 10 more batters strolling to the plate in the sixth, the Bulldogs added six more runs to seal the victory.
"We were getting low on our pitchers from last night and earlier today," explained Miller, whose Apaches knocked off Tinora earlier in the day in the losers' bracket final. "Plus I had some young guys I wanted to get in to give them an opportunity in tournament play, but I think we were carried by our emotions and our momentum until we just ran out of gas at the end."
Kime finished the day going 4-for-5 with two homers and two doubles.
"It really just felt like my day today," explained Kime. "I remembered what coach (Rick) Weaver always says about jumping on that inside pitch and I knew after that first homer I was seeing the ball well and it would be a good day."
Helland helped Defiance with a home run and a double while Dakota Westrick added two singles and Michael Ramirez and Alex Nofziger added a double each.
Main led Fairview with two singles while Nathan Yoder pounded a triple.
Defiance will next play on Wednesday at 8 p.m. against the second seed from Henry County at Defiance.
"We are just going to continue to do what we have all year, explained Elliott. "There is no difference at this stage of the tournament as far as how we need to prepare."
Meanwhile, Fairview will meet the top-seeded team from Henry County in the early contest on Wednesday at Defiance at 5:30 p.m.
Linescore
Defiance 101 125 6 - 16 14 2
Fairview 400 010 0 - 5 4 0
Winning pitcher: Nofziger. Other: Stykemain.
Losing pitcher: Merillat. Other N. Yoder, B. Mosier, Fitzwater.
Leading hitters: (Defiance, 14 hits) - Aaron Helland double, home run; Alex Nofziger double; Dace Kime 2 doubles, 2 home runs; Michael Ramirez double; Dakota Westrick 2 singles. (Fairview, 4 hits) - Nathan Yoder triple; Cody Main 2 singles.
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