Tri-Cities baseball roundup
The Glenbard South baseball team thrives off the belief that when it's down, it's never out.
Playing Western Sun Conference rival Kaneland Wednesday afternoon, the Raiders fell behind 5-0 in the top of the second inning. True to its motto, though, Glenbard South staged a late-game rally, yet eventually dropped a 6-5 decision in Glen Ellyn.
A pair of walks and defensive miscues buried the Raiders in the early 5-run deficit. Glenbard South starting pitcher David Suffern labored through the inning, throwing 46 pitches to 10 different Kaneland hitters.
First baseman Jeff Smith's single to center field scored the game's first two runs. After Jake Fiedler's single made it 3-0, shortstop Joe Gura laced his own 2-RBI single to center to push the Kaneland lead to five.
"We didn't execute, plain and simple," Glenbard South coach Mike Riley said. "We made some fundamental mistakes and they cost us big time."
The Raiders (8-5, 2-2) had a chance to escape the top of the seventh trailing just 5-3, yet another fundamental mistake allowed Kaneland (9-3, 2-2) to score the game-winning run. With runners on first and third and two outs, Kaneland's Joe Camiliere took off for second base.
The Raiders defense couldn't secure catcher Nick Slezak's throw toward the middle of the diamond, allowing Fiedler to cross home plate uncontested.
"There's no way we should have let them score on that," Riley said. "That was kind of characteristic of the way the game went."
Glenbard South looked determined to erase its gaffes in the game's final inning, as the Raiders loaded the bases with no outs. Second baseman Mike Meath's sacrifice fly to left field cut Kaneland's lead to 6-4, and Suffern's line-drive single to right field brought the Raiders within one.
Gura, who came on in relief of Knights starter Steve Colombe in the bottom of the sixth, followed Suffern's RBI single with a strikeout and flyout to secure the win for Kaneland. Colombe picked up his third win.
"We expect ourselves to play better and not even be in that situation," Knights coach Brian Aversa said. "We have to learn from those mistakes, get out and do a better job."
Batavia 16, DeKalb 2: Brian Krolikowski drilled a 3-run homer that highlighted a 9-run third inning for Batavia (10-4, 5-0). Adam Karger improved to 2-0 on the mound.
Geneva 15, Yorkville 10: The Vikings (8-4, 4-1) scored 6 runs in the third inning to take a 6-2 lead over Yorkville. The Foxes countered with seven runs in the fifth, before Geneva scored two in the bottom half and seven more in the sixth inning. A.J. Sarantopulos, Jason Adams and Sean Grady all drove in two runs.
St. Charles North 19, East Aurora 2: The North Stars (5-3, 1-0) pounded the Tomcats with 12 runs in the first inning. Ryan Richardson batted 3-for-3 with 5 RBI and scored three runs and Colin O'Carroll doubled, scored three runs and drove in a pair.
Naperville Central 3, West Aurora 1: Cory Walden doubled home the lone run for West Aurora (4-5, 0-1) in the sixth inning. On the mound, Walden allowed 3 runs and 5 hits over 7 innings. Brian Guethle walked and scored.