Batavia bats give Coffey a lift

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Batavia ace Jordan Coffey can carry a team on the strength of his right arm any time he takes the mound, but it was the Bulldogs' bats that won the day in a 15-5 six-inning victory over Waubonsie Valley on Saturday.

Batavia (5-3) jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the top half of the first inning off of Warriors starter Keith Harris (0-1) by knocking out six hits and stealing three bases. Catcher Ryan Welter delivered the final blow of the inning, a two-run, two-out double to cap the scoring.

"When I break down our inning-to-inning, we've been coming out of the gates really tough, scoring a lot of runs in the first inning or two," Bulldogs coach Matt Holm said. "To give a starter, particularly like Jordan, a lead like that where all he has to do is just get outs and doesn't have to worry about anything else."

The Bulldogs stretched their lead to 10-0 after two and half innings before the Warriors finally cracked the scoreboard in their half of the third.

Trevor Romeo drove in Johnny Strauss with a one-out single, and after Chris Galovic struck out, Adam Leroy brought in Eric Sousanas and Romeo with a double.

Batavia stretched the lead to 12-3 in the fifth inning on a two-run single by designated hitter Brian Krolikowski off of Warriors reliever Ryne Gill. Coffey added a solo home run in the sixth, and two batters later, Welter capped a 3-for-4 day with a run-scoring double, punctuating a four-RBI performance. An Alex Beckmann RBI single made it 15-3.

"This is the first day I've actually hit the crap out of the ball," said Welter, who is seeing his first full-time varsity action. "You come out and get a good swing going on and just get in a groove."

Danny Walker finished the day strong for the Warriors with a two-run home run off of Batavia reliever Matt Taylor in the bottom of the sixth.

Coffey (3-0), three days removed from a perfect game against Rochelle, was solid, giving up three runs on three hits over five innings.

Waubonsie Valley, which was without two starters and playing its third string catcher, fell to 1-6 on the season.

"The one thing we made out of this stretch is that other kids have had opportunities to come in and show themselves," Warriors coach Dan Fezzuoglio said. "That's the key. We want to see if some of these juniors can step up, like Danny Walker hitting the home run, that type of stuff. In this type of loss, that's what you're looking for -- kids getting their at-bats, competing [and] staying in the game."