Snakebit Raiders bite back at Geneva
It seemed like Glenbard South was playing the same baseball game for the fifth time in the last two weeks.
The Raiders, however, liked this version much better.
Ending a five-game Western Sun Conference losing streak, Glenbard South held on for an 8-7 win over Geneva Thursday in Glen Ellyn.
Four of those losses were by a total of 7 runs, many of the games decided late with the Raiders (10-8, 3-5) nursing a lead. This time they shut the door on the door on the Vikings (10-5, 6-2), who on Wednesday scored 2 runs in the bottom of the sixth and won the series opener 10-8.
"We've been having some trouble the last few games, but this could be a game where we turn it around," said Raiders junior Mike Meath. "It was a big relief to get that last out. Especially against a great team like Geneva, that's huge."
Glenbard South held leads of 2-0, 5-1 and 6-5 before Geneva tied it 6-6 on a sixth-inning error. The Raiders took back the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning on RBI singles from Meath and Matt Behnke.
Raiders reliever Ryan DeRosa, who earned his first save, retired the first batter in the seventh before Cory Hofstetter walked and three straight singles came from Alex Sroka, A.J. Sarantopulos and Jack Delabar, who drove in a run.
With the bases loaded, one out and the score 8-7, DeRosa fielded a grounder and fired home for the force out. Then a flyout to center field ended the game and brought a huge sigh of relief from the Raiders.
"It didn't look good," said Glenbard South coach Mike Riley. "I think this was huge because we've been snakebit lately. This has been a tough stretch for us."
Brandon Phillips' solo homer gave the Raiders a 2-0 lead in the second inning, a margin expanded to 5-1 in the third when Meath, David Suffern and Phillips had RBI hits.
Geneva sliced the deficit to 5-4 in the fourth by taking advantage of two wild pitches and a balk. A passed ball in the fifth allowed Brian Cornick to score the tying run, but Trace Wanless singled home a run in the bottom of the inning to put the Raiders back on top 6-5.
Nick Gohla (1-0) pitched 2 innings in relief of Tony Scotellaro to notch the win.
"Even though it was the seventh inning, there was still a lot of baseball to be played," said Geneva coach Matt Hahn. "I thought our kids did a nice job. Obviously we want to win every game, but so do they. They got the key hits and we struggled with that."
BOX SCORE
Glenbard South 8, Geneva 7
Geneva 001 311 1 -7-10-0
Glenbard South 113 012 X -8-14-2
2B: G: Hofstetter, Adams; GS: Ramirez, Meath.
HR: GS: Phillips.
WP: Gohla (1-0); LP: Hanson (0-2); Save: DeRosa (1).