Sycamore hands Batavia 1st Western Sun loss
The early 6-run lead for Sycamore was ancient history by the time Batavia sent the game into extra innings.
Even so, the team's fragile hold on luck finally turned sour.
The Spartans pushed across 4 runs in the top of the eighth inning to end the Bulldogs' 9-game winning streak in posting a 16-12 victory Wednesday afternoon in Batavia.
Batavia also watched its 6-game Western Sun Conference run halted in a game impacted by late-inning momentum swings.
"Not a good day for the Bulldogs," said Batavia coach Matt Holm, citing a litany of mental and physical mistakes by his squad, including 6 errors and 4 players hit by pitches.
"I think we had as many errors today as we did the whole first half of the season."
Sycamore (11-3, 5-2) scored 6 of its first 7 on two-out base hits.
Batavia staged a series of uprisings beginning in their fourth after Tyler Lindquist drilled an opposite field 2-run home run. Trailing 8-4 entering its half of the fifth, Joe Agulilar had a run-scoring single and later scored on an error that halved the deficit.
Henry DuQue tied the game at 8 with a triple down the right-field line. Sycamore, which failed to score only once and banged out 17 hits against four Batavia pitches, snapped the deadlock with a 2-run Conor McCaskey blast over the left-field fence.
Batavia (10-5, 6-1) responded with a three-spot of its own in the sixth as Adam Karger drove in 2-runs with a single.
"This is a tough place for us to play," said Sycamore coach Jason Cavanaugh. "It was a great game from start to finish."
Batavia junior Jordan Coffey made his varsity pitching debut in the Spartans' seventh looking to close out the win, but back-to-back fielding errors put runners at the corners. Sycamore cleanup hitter David Salvatore delivered both runners with a double.
Tim Scofield, after the first two Batavia batters were retired to start the seventh, prolonged the Bulldogs' hopes with a single to right field. He stole a base and extended the game by scoring on a single the other way.
Everything unraveled for Batavia in the Sycamore eighth after the Bulldogs' sixth error broke the tie and Kyle Landes' 2-run single iced the game for the Spartans.
Geneva 10, Glenbard South 8: Jack Delabar and Cory Hofstetter both drove in a pair of runs as the Vikings (10-4, 6-1) defeated the Raiders in Geneva to tie Batavia for first place in the Western Sun Conference. Riley Perry picked up his fifth win of the season.
West Aurora 10, WW South 0: Cory Walden limited the Tigers to 3 hits over 6 innings, while striking out six for his third win. At the plate, he batted 3-for-4 with a home run. Chris Richter also added 3 hits and 3 RBI for the Blackhawks (6-7, 2-2).
Marmion 9, Immaculate Conception 8: The Knights (8-9, 2-5) scored three runs in the first, but the Cadets (10-2, 5-1) countered with three in the bottom half. Bobby Winkel went 2-for-4 with a triple and Ryan Hoffman and Will Sterence both finished 2-for-3.