Defiance shuts out Bath, 1-0
Apr. 29—Home field advantage? What home field advantage?
When Defiance's Taighen Zipfel threw a two-hit shutout in a 1-0 Bulldogs softball win at Bath on Thursday it was the second day in a row she'd pitched a shutout in a road game.
Thursday's win came 24 hours after Zipfel pitched Defiance to an 8-0 win at Shawnee on Wednesday and held the Indians to five hits.
"She was hitting her spots," Defiance coach Dennis Parrish said about Thursday's game. "In softball you get somebody (as a pitcher) who is overpowering or somebody who can hit her spots and keep people of balance.
"Taighen has been working at it. She's only a sophomore and is only going to get better. She told me today she wanted the ball. She threw last night and had a good outing. Today she was ready and prepared.
"We're 5-2 in the league and she's got all five wins. She's thrown all the games in the league," he said.
Defiance improved to 10-7 overall and 5-2 in the Western Buckeye League. Bath dropped to 8-10 overall and 5-2 in the WBL. Those two teams are a game and a half behind WBL leader Wapakoneta and St. Marys, Van Wert and Elida are all 4-2 in the league.
"We can only take care of our own business right now and hope somebody helps us out down the road," Parrish said.
"This was a great WBL battle tonight. Every time we play Bath it seems like that's what it comes down to — one or two runs or the home team always has a chance because you're still in the game. It was one of those old-fashioned WBL battles."
Bath pitcher Dylan Grigsby (5 strikeouts, no walks) allowed six hits, but three of them came in the top of the third inning when Defiance scored the game's only run.
Jaedan Delarber led off the inning with a single and Elizabeth Hoffman singled to put runners on first and second bases. Marrah Elston lined into a double play, leaving only Hoffman on first base. But the next batter, Lindsay Roth, doubled to score Hoffman.
Bath's best chance to get on the scoreboard came in the bottom of the second inning. With one out, Grigsby walked and Shelby Marsteller doubled. But pinch-runner Karlie Romaker was thrown out at the plate. Bath had only three base runners after that.
The Wildkittens' next-best chance to score was in the seventh inning when Anne Oliver led off with a single off the third baseman's glove and got to third base with one out. But Zipfel ended the game with back-to-back strikeouts.
