Batavia's Drish delivers knockout in 17-4 rout of Montini
Tim Drish had a varsity debut to remember Wednesday afternoon in Batavia.
The Bulldogs' slugging junior had 3 extra-base hits, including a 3-run home run in the first inning, to lead Batavia to a five-inning, 17-4 rout of Montini in nonconference action.
Drish (5 RBI) added a pair of run-scoring doubles in the fourth inning as Batavia pummeled four Montini pitchers in the one-sided contest.
"(The first-inning home-run pitch) came in inside and broke right on the plate," Drish said of the hanging breaking ball he deposited over the left-center field fence. "Everyone was getting on (base), and I did the job. Our coach (Matt Holm) said we needed to score a couple in the first."
The Bulldogs (1-1) did far better.
Batavia leadoff batter Alex Beckmann laced the first pitch he saw up the middle, and the hit parade continued without exception; the Bulldogs batted around without Montini recording an out, scoring seven times in the opening inning on 8 hits.
"We just wanted to be aggressive," said Beckmann, who is committed to Northern Illinois. "I think this is the best team offensively since I've been (on varsity)."
Montini (0-2) responded in the second and third innings, scoring a pair of runs in each to reduce its deficit to 7-4.
Andrew Brauer had the Broncos' lone extra-base hit in the third, and Chris Briggs' 2-run single capped the 4-run unanswered salvo.
But a two-out, two-base fielding error allowed Batavia to double its lead in its half of the third, and the floodgates opened in the bottom of the fourth.
Jordan Coffey, who gave up 5 hits while striking out four to earn his first win on the season, doubled to lead off the Bulldogs' fourth.
Drish promptly scored his classmate with another drive to the fence, and Shane Holl delivered another run with a single.
The Bulldogs' 11th run scored on a wild pitch, and Brad Brandenburg strolled to the plate one batter later with the bases loaded.
The senior third-baseman tripled to deep right-center to clear the bases, and the slaughter rule was soon invoked when Coffey and Drish added back-to-back doubles.
Coffey and Drish paced the Bulldogs' 16-hit attack with three apiece.
"We have a team that is going to hit," Batavia coach Matt Holm said. "We've taken a beating from (Montini) before; we knew what they can do."
"We've got some work to do," Montini coach Bill Leeberg said. "Our pitching wasn't very good and our outfield play was horrendous. I thought we swung the bats decent."