Softball: Geneva ties school record with 16th straight win
Had they done the same things in the classroom earlier on Tuesday, the girls on the Geneva softball team would have received exceptionally high marks from their teachers.
Playing close to a perfect Upstate Eight Conference River game at Batavia, the Vikings tied a program record for most consecutive wins (16) with their 10-1 triumph over their archrival.
Neither did a single Geneva girl strike out nor did any member of the team commit an error in Batavia.
Geneva freshman pitcher Emily Viebrock went the distance in posting a 4-hit victory over the Bulldogs (10-9, 5-4).
The ninth-grader extended her season-long winning streak to 10 games as the right-hander retired the side in order the last three innings to close out the Bulldogs.
"They field everything teams hit off of me," Viebrock said of the Vikings' defense, particular energized by third-baseman Molly Wrenn and shortstop Sam Keller.
"The left side of the infield had a great day today," Geneva coach Greg Dierks said.
Wrenn and Keller combined for 9 assists.
Kate Geary made the defensive play of the game for the Vikings in center field. The junior utterly robbed the Bulldogs' Rachael Lovestrand of extra bases to end the Batavia fifth inning with a diving shoestring effort.
"It was amazing," Geary said. "It's always fun to make a play like that for your team. Emily had a great game on the mound, and our defense played flawless (softball)."
Geneva (16-2, 7-0) was equally epic at the plate.
Battering four different Batavia pitchers for 13 hits, senior stalwart Annika Radabaugh led the Vikings' attack.
Toni Galas' valiant effort to run down a third-inning Radabaugh drive to the farthest reaches of the Batavia park led to a violent collision with the center field fence.
Radabaugh raced all the way around the bases for the inside-the-park home run.
"(Galas) was here," Radabaugh said, motioning to her right. "And the ball was here (pointing to the left). We have a very offensive team this year."
The Vikings' hits were rarely cheap ones.
"Every ball they hit was hard," Batavia coach Lupe Castellanos said. "When you hit the ball that hard, it puts a lot of pressure on the defense. I knew it was going to be a tough game."
Of the many vicious line drives Geneva scattered either into the infield, outfield or the gloves of waiting Batavia infielders and outfielders, none was perhaps as draconian as the final Radabaugh at-bat.
In concluding a 6-run Geneva sixth inning, Radabaugh hit a ball so hard Batavia second-baseman Brooklyn Glavach had no prayer of fielding it.
The rocket skipped between her feet all the way to the outfield fence for a run-scoring triple, the third RBI on the day for Radabaugh.
"The heart of the lineup is really pounding the ball," Dierks said.