DC Rides Harris Grand Slam to 7-5 Win Over Spartans

DEFIANCE, Ohio  --  Defiance picked up another key Heartland Conference victory on Tuesday, riding clutch hitting, solid defense and stingy pitching to a 7-5 win against Manchester. The win moves DC to 4-6 in HCAC play and was the Jackets third win in their last four league contests.

Dustin Zizelman (2-3) worked around mild control issues all day long, as the sophomore hurler issued six walks in seven innings of work, but only gave up one earned run and left the game with Defiance holding a 7-4 lead heading into the eighth.

The Yellow Jacket bullpen held the lead from there as Nick Picciano shut Manchester down in order in the eighth inning before Tim Pitro pitched the ninth for his fourth save of the season. The four saves move Pitro into a three-way tie for the third-highest total in DC history and just three back of the all-time mark. 

With the Jackets facing an early 1-0 hole, LeTroy Harris used his legs to ignite a rally in the second as the speedy freshman reached on an infield error to start the second before beating a force play at second on a Lenny Koesters grounder.

Defiance then called on Kirk Jesse for a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt before using a single from Tim Pitro and a suicide squeeze from Brad Timofeev to plate its first two runs and take the 2-1 lead.

Mike Hill and Phil Kosier drew walks to start the third frame and Ron Martin legged out a bunt single to load the bases with no outs. Harris then stepped to the plate and laced a line drive around the left field foul pole for the eventual game-winning RBIs and the 6-1 lead.

Manchester cut into the lead with three unearned runs in the top of the sixth, but Harris was not done yet. The Toledo, Ohio, native led off the bottom of the inning with a single and stole second. Harris then scampered to third on a single from Koesters before racing home with an all-important insurance tally as Koesters was caught between first and second in the next at bat.

The Spartans mounted one final rally in the ninth, scoring once and putting the potential tying run in scoring position before Pitro induced a game-ending fly to center which was pocketed by Koesters.

Defiance (9-14, 4-6 HCAC) will now host Mount St. Joseph for a weekend series. The teams will open play with a single game on Friday at 4:00 pm.