Fellows pitches Kaneland past Batavia

Entering the game as a reliever to start the third inning, Kaneland's Colton Fellows expected to get in a few innings of work while fine-tuning for next week's Class 3A regional tournament.

Fellows (6-2) did just that - and more - as he pitched 4 scoreless innings of 1-hit ball in the Knights' 3-1 nonconference victory over Batavia (12-18) during the teams' dual Senior Night contest Monday at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark in Geneva.

"Coming into the game, I was told I'd get 2 to 3 (innings) because we wanted to get a big mix of guys in but I guess Coach (Brian Aversa) thought I was doing pretty well so he left me in," said Fellows, who retired 12 of the 14 batters he faced.

"It's a good feeling getting a win on Senior Night. It really means a lot to us - to come out and beat a good team."

Aversa, whose team improved to 18-10 overall, is happy to have Fellows on his side.

"He's our 1 - we all know it," the coach said of his ace right-hander. "He needed to get some innings in throwing against a good team like Batavia. It was good to see for him and his confidence rolling into next week."

Batavia grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second on Matt Musielak's RBI groundout that plated Mitch Boyer, who had opened the inning with a single.

Boyer advanced to third on an opposite-field single off the bat of Evan Acosta, who pitched a 1-2-3 inning to open the game and played 3 different positions in the first 3 innings.

Batavia coach Matt Holm used 6 different pitchers, including Acosta, Boyer, Sean Townsend, Eric Huizenga, Sergio Espana and Nick Rogalski.

"I like to let the senior pitchers each have an inning," said Holm. "It's Senior Night and it's not anything in the standings. The reality is on a stage like this most guys are never going to get to do it again."

Kaneland tied the game at 1-1 in the third as Austin Wheatley scored from third after Joe Panico stole second.

The Knights broke the deadlock with a pair of sixth-inning runs.

Jacob Bachio reached on a throwing error after a dropped third strike to lead off the inning before Rogalski grazed Danny Hammermeister with a pitch to put runners on first and second with nobody out.

Jacob Violett then grounded into a fielder's choice, beating the wide relay throw at first while courtesy runner Jake Marczuk raced home with the go-ahead run.

After a 1-out single by Kevin Fuchs and a groundout put runners on second and third, Wheatley's RBI infield single accounted for the Knights' final run.

"Throwing the ball around - that has been our problem all season long," said Holm. "It's a broken record. We can't even talk about it anymore because it's the same thing. We had two errors that inning and they score two runs.

"It's frustrating. You get a slow hopper that nobody can go get and you strike a kid out and then throw the ball away. Those are tough."

The annual contest also served as a fundraiser for cancer and the tornado-ravaged small town of Fairdale in north-central Illinois.

"It's a special night," said Aversa. "We're good friends with the Batavia coaches and Matt (Holm) is just as competitive as I am. We love playing each other."

Proceeds also directly benefited 2 people with Kaneland ties - Pat Hill and Bryan Dunne (the father of senior outfielder River Dunne).

"Pat has been battling cancer for a while now and Bryan was recently diagnosed with Stage 2 colon cancer," said Aversa. "He had surgery last week.

"We had some fun tonight and raised some money for a great cause."