Baseball: South Elgin downs West Aurora for 12th straight win

Every baseball fan on the face of the planet does not require an explanation for the expression "insurance run."

Cam Kovanda doubled the South Elgin lead in the top of the seventh inning with two outs Thursday afternoon in Aurora.

The Storm senior had a line-drive single to plate Dylan Wells.

The clutch base hit was essentially the difference in the Storm claiming a 6-5 victory over West Aurora in Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division action.

It was the 12th consecutive win for South Elgin.

"You want to get up 2 runs and help your pitcher out," Kovanda said. "It gives him some leeway. I saw a good pitch and hit it."

The added South Elgin run was needed when West Aurora junior Josh Adam singled home Charlie Griswold with two outs in the Blackhawks' half of the seventh inning.

But the Storm prevailed when southpaw Nick Guzzo earned the save for starter Wells with a third to second force out.

Like many sports, baseball can be cruel.

West Aurora starter Dustin Tomas deserved a better fate.

South Elgin (12-2, 10-0) took the lead for good in the top of the fourth when Logan Romasanta, Bryant Diel and Nate Gomez had the most innocuous of dribblers. But every single one proved to be an infield base hit.

South Elgin sophomore Patrick Keaty had the only hit to the outfield in the 2-run inning to give the Storm a 5-3 lead.

"This game could have been completely different," Tomas said. "If we get a groundball to turn a double play, we could have won the game."

"They (the Storm) could probably say the same thing," West Aurora coach John Reeves said of Griswold, David Woods and Adam scoring in the second inning to tie the game at 3-3.

The Adam single was a bunt hit in the inning, and the other West Aurora run-scorers received a free pass via bases on balls.

"These guys (the Blackhawks) battle," South Elgin assistant coach Ben Erickson said. "They never give up."

West Aurora is far better than its 4-16, 3-6 record represents.

"We have lost a lot of 1- and 2-run games," Reeves said.

With South Elgin nursing a 1-run lead in the latter innings, both Wells and Guzzo stranded West Aurora runners in scoring position.

"That's something we're getting better at," Erickson said. "We were able to come up with a double play to end an inning (the first)."

In running their league winning streak to 10 games in a row, the Storm is the team to beat in the Valley.

"I haven't seen Bartlett yet," Reeves said. "Those guys are good. I think they are probably the top in our division."