Baseball: Batavia pulls away from Geneva in 7th

Final scores can be deceiving

Despite the ugly appearance, Batavia's 7-1 defeat of Geneva Tuesday was anything but a blowout. The Bulldogs blew it open with 5 runs in the seventh, with 4 coming on Justin Pelley's grand slam.

Before then, it was a nailbiter all the way as Batavia's Dylan Schick outdueled Geneva's Nick Black on the mound in the Upstate Eight River baseball matchup in Geneva.

The Vikings had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth, putting runners on second and third with none out.

But Schick escaped from the close shave, getting Cullen Geary on a comebacker and striking out Dominic Guido. After hitting Josh Rose to load the bases, Schick got Garrett Bragg to ground to first to end it.

The Bulldogs (18-8) put the game out of reach in the next inning. Jared Martin started it with a high drive to the left field corner that went for a double. Walks to Carter Gette and Cole Nelson loaded the bases. Michael Niemiec was hit with a pitch, forcing in a run. Pelley then drove a pitch high over the fence in deep center field.

"That was a huge momentum changer," said Batavia coach Alex Beckmann. "In the top of the seventh we were able to get some baserunners. We took what they gave us. We didn't try to do too much and then they made that one mistake and we hammered it."

Geneva (15-11-1) went ahead on Bragg's run-scoring single in the fourth, scoring courtesy runner Max Cannon.

Joe Sartain led off with a single. Quinton Urwiler hit a comebacker, but the throw to second for the force was low and everybody was safe. After a walk loaded the bases, Nelson drove in a pair with a line drive to center.

"We had some good at-bats early, and then we just couldn't get the one hit we needed," said Geneva coach Brad Wendell. "There were a couple of opportunities for a fly ball or something like that. You hope to get one there."

Schick went the distance for Batavia. He allowed 6 hits but few were struck really hard. He walked 1 and hit 2 batters while striking out 3.

"His pitch count was down," Beckman said. "He was very efficient today. He really went after hitters. That's what you've got to do with the wind blowing in. We made some great plays behind him, a couple of double plays were big for us. He did outstanding today."

Black allowed just 3 hits and 2 walks in his 5 innings.