Batavia, rains put Knights' sweep attempt on hold
Looking to complete its three-game sweep of Western Sun Conference rival Batavia, Kaneland's baseball team will have to wait at least another day after threatening weather forced umpires to postpone Friday's game in midstream.
In order to pull off the feat though, the Knights (8-9, 7-4) will have to stage a comeback.
The Bulldogs (11-6, 7-4) led 3-1 when play was halted with one out and nobody on base in the bottom of the fourth inning in Maple Park.
Batavia, which was outscored 18-13 during the first two games of the series, staked junior right-hander Brian Krolikowski to a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the top of the second inning.
With two outs, Mike Sentman singled and came across with the game's first run when Shane Holl's fly ball was misplayed into a 2-base error.
Ryan Welter later walked, putting runners on first and second before Kaneland pitcher Joe Gura recorded 1 of his 4 strikeouts to end the inning.
Kaneland answered with a run of its own in the bottom half of the frame off Krolikowski.
Senior catcher Brian Claesson laced a leadoff single and promptly stole second.
After Batavia catcher Ryan Welter made a sliding catch of a foul pop for the second out, Alex Norman delivered a game-tying RBI single to left.
The Bulldogs took the lead with a 2-run fourth, capitalizing on some good fortune and heads-up baserunning along the way.
Jordan Coffey led off with a single and advanced to second on Sentman's sacrifice bunt.
After taking third on a wild pitch, Coffey scored the go-ahead run when Holl's sharply hit groundball to third turned into a bad-hop single to left.
Another wild pitch allowed Holl to advance all the way from first to third, and the senior scored the Bulldogs' third run on Welter's 2-strike line single to center.
The Knights escaped further damage by playing pinch-hitter Joe Scaccia's softly hit line drive into an inning-ending double play.
Krolikowski recorded his fifth strikeout to open the bottom half of the fourth before play was stopped after the home-plate umpire noticed a flash of lightning beyond left field.
After a 15-minute delay, umpires officially called the game off at 6 p.m.
Naperville North 12, West Aurora 11:ŒTrailing 12-5 going to the top of the seventh, the Blackhawks (12-6, 5-4) stormed back with six runs. But they were unable to score the tying run from third base.
Cory Walden went 2-for-5 with a homer and 5 RBI. For the Huskies (13-6, 5-4), Jordan Tassio went 2-for-4 with 3 runs and 4 RBI.
Softball
Geneva 2, Yorkville 0: The Vikings blanked the Foxes at home, improving to 4-2 in the Western Sun Conference. Nikki Davis tripled and Kelly McCaffrey pitched 6 ½ innings for the win.