(5-29-21) Defiance Head Baseball Coach Tom Held hit another milestone this season in his career…he recently won his 751st game passing Coldwater’s Lou Brunswick.
- 2017 Story – Defiance: An Ohio Baseball Dynasty
Held has done it all during his Ohio HS baseball career, he continues to win games and now trails the Ohio all-time coaching career win leader, Lakewood’s Don Thorp, who sits atop the list with 846 wins.
Win #751
The Held-Brunswick Connection….
Career win #750 was very special, Bradyn Shaw the grandson of Lou Brunswick, was the winning pitcher. The ‘apple doesn’t fall far from the tree‘.
At 750 wins the two coaches had almost identical records of 750-166 (Brunswick) and 750-167 (Held). But they both have something more important…they both have humble spirits, both are respected by their peers and they both respect their peers….winners in life.
OHSAA Wins, All-Time (minimum 500)
- 846 – Don Thorp, Hebron Lakewood, 846-219 (1973-2010)
768 – Ken Gray, Mason, 768-292 (1973-2013)
767 – Mike Cameron, Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller, 767-304 (1969-2007)
760 – Timothy Engleka, Centerville,760-307-5 (1964-2002) (Retired)
759 – Rich Arbinger, Toledo Start (1976-2009) - 751 – Tom Held, Defiance, Bryan, Elmwood, 751-167 (1988-2021)
750 – Lou Brunswick, Coldwater, 750-166 (1969-1993)
745 – Dennis T. Woods, Mentor Lake Catholic, Cleveland Heights, Glenville, 745-391 (1966-1974,1986-2018)
742 – Doug Miller, Canton Central Catholic/East Canton, 742-313 (1982-2019)
729 – Chuck Harlow, New Lebanon Dixie, (1981-1983)/Clayton Northmont, 729-315-2 (1984-2017), Brookville
713 – Bruce Cahill, Tipp City Tippecanoe, 713-300 (1981-2021)
****Please note as of 4-16-21 – Don Thorp is now 1,000-328-3 (.753) since starting in 1973 – Newark Advocate story – Millennium man: Ex-Lakewood baseball stars flock to see Don Thorp’s 1,000th victory
The Held WINS at Defiance
A look back in time….
Held started his career in 1988 at Elmwood and would later move to Bryan and would make his current stop at Defiance during the 1998-99 school year.
Stateline Sports Network 
You better check out the Ohio High school website about Coach Don Thorp’s win total. He just passed over 1000 wins this season. He sits at 1011 wins after a season ending loss in a district final on Thursday night. His team went 20-10 this year.
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The number’s we have listed on Coach Thorp are directly from the OHSAA web site. Thanks for the heads up….we found a story about his 1,000th win – https://www.newarkadvocate.com/story/news/local/2021/04/17/ex-lakewood-stars-flock-see-thorps-1-000th-victory/7233306002/
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