Baseball: West Aurora caps off 4-0 week with win over Geneva
It was difficult to wipe the smile off the face of West Aurora baseball coach John Reeves following the Blackhawks' 2-1 victory over Geneva Saturday morning in Aurora.
First off, Reeves watched senior pitcher Win Kipp toss a masterful 3-hit complete game to even his mound mark at 3-3 for the season.
More importantly, the Upstate Eight Conference crossover victory over a solid Geneva (16-10, 12-7) team inched the Blackhawks (10-11, 8-6) another step closer to the .500 mark and capped a superb week.
"We're 4-0 this week," said Reeves, whose team swept a 3-game midweek series with crosstown rival East Aurora. "It has been a while since we've had a 4-0 week. In the other conference (DuPage Valley), we had 0-7 weeks so this is nice.
"You've got to be happy with it."
Kipp kept the Vikings off-balance throughout, retiring 12 of the 21 outs on groundballs - with sophomore shortstop JJ Rivera recording 8 assists as well as starting a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play in the fourth.
"It helped that my changeup was working," said Kipp, who walked one and fanned a pair. "I was able to get them out in front of it and hit them to my shortstop. He had a great day today."
Kipp retired the Vikings in order in six of the seven innings.
"That might have been one of the best-pitched games Win has had not only this year but also last year," said Reeves. "He pitched well and he didn't have to strike anybody out."
His team's improved defensive play also pleased the veteran coach.
"We made plays," said Reeves. "We went from the East Aurora series where we kicked the ball all over the place just to give them opportunities. The other day against East, JJ (Rivera) made like four errors at short.
"Today, he was just lights out and Jake (Arsenault) picked every ball over at first base."
West Aurora scored both of its runs in the third, benefiting from a pair of fielding miscues by the Vikings and a 2-out, 2-run single off the bat of Logan Love.
Trevor Wilcox (2-3) suffered the tough-luck loss, fanning three while working six innings.
"He was fantastic - no earned runs," Geneva coach Matt Hahn said of Wilcox. "We made a couple errors uncharacteristically."
Coming a tough series with Batavia in which they were outscored 33-7, the Vikings managed just 3 singles against West Aurora.
"We've struggled at the plate the last few weeks," said Hahn. "We're not driving the ball like we were earlier in the year and we're not executing like we were at the beginning of the year."
Dylan Baer led off the fourth with a single and scored the Vikings' lone run on a wild pitch. A.J. Hostman and Matt Evert had the other base hits.
"If we get our offense figured out, I think we can make a run (in the tournament)," said Hahn. "If we don't, it's going to be a quick end to the season."