Shh, don’t tell anyone, but here is the story from Tuesday’s Crescent-News (May 11) about Defiance’s come-from-behind victory over Sylvania Southview. Enjoy!

TOLEDO — Dace Kime of Defiance delivered a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift the Bulldogs to a 4-3 victory over Sylvania Southview in a battle of state-ranked teams on Monday at Fifth Third Field in Toledo, home of the Triple A Mud Hens.
Defiance (23-1) entered the game as the No. 3 team in the state in Division II, while Southview (18-2) was ranked No. 2 in the state in Division I.
The clutch hit by Kime made a winner of reliever Steve Hammersmith, who threw just one pitch in the top of the seventh after the Cougars had rallied for two runs to take a 3-2 lead. Southview tied the game on a suicide squeeze with two strikes, before taking the lead on a passed ball.
“What a great high school baseball game,” commented Defiance mentor Tom Held. “We had a 2-1 lead going into the seventh, but Southview squeezes with two strikes and later scores on a passed ball. Give them a ton of credit.
“But our kids hung in there … they just never give up,” Held added. “We’ve pulled out some big comeback wins against some good teams this year. Our kids just always believe they can win.”
The Bulldogs rallied for the victory with one out in the bottom of the seventh.
Shea Murray walked with one out before being lifted for pinch runner Jacob Moore. An infield single by Jacob Moser, allowed Moore to advance to second where he just beat the throw to the bag. Following a strikeout, Defiance senior Alex Nofziger fell behind 0-2, before battling back for a walk to load the bases.
That brought Kime to the plate.
The DHS senior, who started the game and gave up no hits in four innings of work, delivered with a single up the middle that scored Moore and Moser, who scored easily when the throw home was off the mark.
“The at-bat of the game was easily (Alex) Noffy’s there in the seventh,” Held said. “He battled and battled and was able to draw the walk. Then Dace came up and did what Dace does, he finds a way to come up with a clutch hit.
“That’s a very, very talented Southview team,” added Held. “This was a tournament-type atmosphere here today and we got to see a very good pitcher in Vandercook. Our pitchers had to throw against a good lineup up and down the order, and win or lose we would have gotten a lot out of this game today.”
Nofziger finished with a pair of singles to pace DHS.
Defiance returns to action on Friday in Division II sectional championship action against Van Wert at Defiance at 7:30 p.m., following the sectional title game between Bryan and Wauseon.

Linescore
Southview 000 010 2 – 3 3 1
Defiance 001 001 2 – 4 7 2
Records: Defiance 23-1, Southview 18-2.
Winning pitcher: Steve Hammersmith (1/3 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 strikeouts, 0 walks). Others: Dace Kime, Eric Stapleton.
Losing pitcher: Vandercook (7 innings, 4 runs, 7 hits, 8 strikeouts, 3 walks).
Leading hitters: (Defiance, 7 hits) – Alex Nofziger 2 singles. (Southview, 3 runs) – Stambaugh 2 singles.