Payne's squeeze doubles Geneva's fun

One of the joys of baseball is that you never know what you're going to see from game to game.

In Geneva's season debut against Sandwich last Thursday, senior catcher Ryan Payne belted a walk-off home run to snap a scoreless tie.

On Wednesday against Marmion, Payne pulled off a rare 2-run suicide squeeze bunt in the bottom of the first inning.

"Basically, I just do whatever is best for the team," said Payne, who knocked in 3 runs with a pair of hits during the Vikings' nonconference doubleheader sweep of the Cadets (1-2) in Geneva. "I just try to execute and make sure we win -- that's what it's all about.

"But I've never had 2 RBIs on a suicide squeeze before."

"Those are the things we preach -- our bunting and baserunning," said Geneva coach Matt Hahn. "Sometimes you get a kid who just hit a home run and you ask him to bunt and he looks at you like, 'What do you mean, I'm bunting.'

"Ryan's not that kind of player. He's willing to do a multitude of things."

The Vikings (3-0) extended their lead to 6-0 with a 4-run second that featured Ryan Adams' 2-run single.

Marmion recorded 3 of its 4 hits during a 4-run third that was keyed by Dave DeSimone's RBI double and a run-producing single off the bat of Robert Reder.

Matt Milroy's fourth-inning solo home run narrowed the gap to 6-5 before the Vikings' Kevin Massoth smacked a leadoff home run in the bottom half of the frame to help provide some breathing room during the 7-5 victory.

Massoth, who was 3-for-4 with 4 runs scored and 4 walks during the doubleheader, and Michael Grandenitti reached base all 8 times in the opening game.

"Kevin Massoth at the top of the order, he sets the table for everything with his attitude and his approach," said Hahn. "And he's got a little bit of pop in his bat."

Justin Doty fanned 3 in 2 scoreless innings of relief to nail down the save for winning pitcher Chris Jordan (2-0).

After the Cadets took a brief 1-0 lead on Matt McHugh's sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning of Game 2, the Vikings answered with a 4-run bottom half that was ignited by senior designated hitter Dan Rowe's 3-run home run off eventual losing pitcher Tim Milroy (0-1).

Rowe drove in his fourth and fifth runs of the game with an opposite-field double during the Vikings' 7-run third that all but sealed their 14-3, 5-inning triumph.

"He missed the first game for personal reasons so it was nice to get him in the lineup," said Hahn. "He's a strong kid."

Rowe was just happy to contribute to the team's 3-game winning streak.

"I DH'd a little bit last year," he said. "You've just got to take an extra minute of your time to warm up and make sure your legs are loose."

A.J. Sarantopulos (1-0) tossed 3-hit ball for 4 innings before giving way to sophomore reliever Riley Perry, who fanned a pair in a scoreless fifth.

It all made for a frustrating return to Geneva for Marmion coach and Batavia graduate Dave Rakow.

"We gave them a lot of extra outs," said the first-year coach. "We walked too many people (10), we didn't make routine plays -- we didn't play like a varsity team should.

"We fought back in that first game -- I liked the way we did that -- but again we're making too many mistakes to win ballgames right now."