Baseball: Havis' grand slam propels Kaneland past Fenton

Preston Havis isn't primarily known as a home-run hitter. The Kaneland senior hit just his third of the year Thursday, but it came at a great time for the Knights.

With the bases loaded in the first inning, Havis launched a towering drive that easily cleared the left-field fence, sending the Knights on their way to an 11-5 win against Fenton in the semifinal of the Class 3A Burlington Central baseball regional.

Kaneland will meet the host Rockets for the title at 10 a.m. Saturday.

On a rare picture-perfect day on Rocket Hill, the Knights' hitters came out swinging, putting up 10 runs in the first two innings. Fenton pitchers helped them out with 5 walks and a hit batter in those frames.

"Tie game, 0-0, bases loaded, two outs, I knew if we didn't get one there, the momentum wasn't going to be solid throughout the entire game," Havis said. "I didn't go up there thinking home run, but I knew I had to hit a ball hard and that's just what happened."

Josh Pollastrini contributed a 2-run double that landed just inside the left-field foul line in the second inning. Rob Dudzinski, Zach Farris and Joey Brandonisio all hit 2-run singles, and Luke Calabrese added a sacrifice fly. Altogether, the Knights sent 10 men to the plate in the second inning, scoring 6 times.

That was more than enough support for Reece Sowell, who cruised through 5 innings before running out of gas in the sixth.

The Knights prevailed despite 3 errors and a couple of bloops that fell in.

"The margin for error in playoff baseball is slim and none," said Kaneland coach Brian Aversa. "We got away with some stuff today, and we're going to have to tighten the screws in practice tomorrow and get that worked out."

Sowell did his part to keep the Bison off the scoreboard, striking out 7 and walking just 3. Before the sixth, he surrendered just a 3-run homer to Tim Beecroft in the fourth.

"He's a bulldog and he's an emotional kid," Aversa said of Sowell. "He pitches with his heart and sometimes he leaves a pitch up or out. He said, 'I knew as soon as I released it that pitch was going to get hammered.' "

Beecroft did his part to keep Fenton in the game. He took over on the mound with 2 outs in the second and held the Knights to just 1 run on 4 hits the rest of the way while contributing the big hit at the plate.

The Bison added 2 more runs in the sixth on RBI singles by Carlos Mercado and Ivan Lozado.