Bulldogs not fazed

Batavia first baseman Brian Krolikowski makes a nice grab in foul territory against Geneva.
(Donnell Collins/For the Beacon News)

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BATAVIA -- The way Batavia's baseball team is playing right now, not much will faze them.

So, being down a run heading into the bottom of the sixth in Monday's series finale against rival Geneva didn't seem to be too much of a mountain to climb, especially after reliever Chris Wood escaped a bases-loaded jam in the top of the fifth inning.

"I had total confidence that we were going to win that game when he came in and got out of that jam," Batavia coach Matt Holm said.

And Holm was right.

Senior Jordan Coffey led off the bottom of the sixth with a game-tying home run and the Bulldogs tacked on two more in the inning to hand Geneva a 6-4 Western Sun Conference loss and sweep the three-game set. Batavia has now won 17 of its last 18 games overall.

"We're really focused," Holm said. "At the beginning of the year, we had to talk to our guys about being focused. They bought into it. When you buy into something like that, even some of the teams that aren't the greatest in the world, if everybody is going in the same direction; you can do some great things. We happen to have a team that's playing really well together right now and a bunch of great individuals."

Wood (6-0, all in relief) came on after Batavia starter Henry DuQue loaded the bases with one out in the sixth on a walk and two hit batsmen. Wood induced an infield pop-up and struck out Jack Delabar to end the inning. He allowed a hit in both the sixth and seventh, but escaped unharmed each time to cement the win.

"(DuQue) throws harder than me, so that really helps when I come in," Wood said. "When our starters throw as hard as they do, it really helps me out. It's a great luxury."

Geneva starter AJ Sarantopoulos wiggled out of a jam of his own in the fifth before giving way to Hanson (0-3) in the sixth. Coffey promptly led off the sixth with his fourth home run of the season to tie the game. Then the bottom of the lineup got the winning rally going for Batavia (18-5 overall, 13-1 WSC).

DuQue, the No. 7 hitter, reached on an infield single with one out. He was sacrificed to second by Tyler Lindquist and reached third on a wild pitch. No. 9 hitter Ryan Welter then belted an RBI single up the middle and later scored on Tim Scofield's single.

Tim Drish got things going early for Batavia, popping his first two home runs of the season off of his childhood friend Sarantopoulos. He popped a two-run shot to center after Scofield led the game off with a triple to open a 2-0 lead. He added a solo bomb off the fence of the new tennis courts in the fourth.

"I haven't really felt it yet," Drish said. "It's just getting the stroke back. I took some batting practice during the school day today, so it was nice to get those extra swings in."

Geneva (15-8, 10-5) scored two runs in both the third and fourth innings to account for its offense. Eric Renner led off the third with a solo home run and Jerrod Campbell walked and scored on a Jason Adams groundout. In the fourth, Alex Sroka drew a lead-off walk and scored on Sarantopoulos' triple. Delabar's groundout plated Sarantopoulos.

Geneva (15-8, 10-5) fell four games back in the conference race with six games to go, but Vikings coach Matt Hahn was not upset with the way his team played.

"I think we're fine," Hahn said. "If we would have kicked the ball around and gave away games at the end with errors and walks, I may be frustrated. I thought we played well. I thought we gave ourselves a chance to win in all three games. When you lose to a good team, you're obviously frustrated because you lose, but you have to tip your cap. They won. Good teams will do that."