Batavia rallies to beat Geneva 6-4

Trailing 4-3 after 5 1/2 innings, Batavia's senior-laden baseball team refused to panic Monday afternoon.

Showing both maturity and late-inning comeback ability, the Bulldogs (18-5, 13-1) rallied for 3 sixth-inning runs on their way to a 6-4 Western Sun Conference victory over Geneva in Batavia.

While completing their 3-game series sweep of the Vikings (15-8, 10-5), the Bulldogs held a potent Geneva lineup to just 6 runs over 21 innings and stretched their first-place conference lead to 31/2 games.

"We're very happy to get this one but we've got seven conference games left," said Batavia coach Matt Holm. "We've got some stuff that we've got to take care of toward the end of the season."

The Bulldogs jumped on Geneva starting pitcher A.J. Sarantopulos early, as leadoff hitter Tim Schofield sliced a triple to right-center before Tim Drish belted a 2-run, first-inning home run that barely eluded the outstretched glove of Viking center fielder Jerrod Campbell near the 360-foot mark.

Geneva tied it with a pair of third-inning runs, including a leadoff home run from catcher Eric Renner, and went on top 4-2 with 2 more runs in the fourth, highlighted by Sarantopulos' RBI triple.

Leading off the fifth inning, Drish smacked his second home run of the game and season - a line shot that bounced high off the left-field fence surrounding the tennis court to cut the Vikings' lead to 4-3.

"I was trying to go to the right side with it but he (Sarantopulos) threw me inside," said Drish. "It felt good."

The timing was apparently right for Drish, who had a rare chance to take some swings earlier in the weekday morning.

"With it being 'Senior Skip Day,' one of my teachers gave us permission to take some extra batting practice since we only had three kids in our class," said Drish.

Designated hitter Jordan Coffey greeted Geneva reliever John Hanson (0-3) with a game-tying home run - his fourth of the season - to ignite the crucial 3-run sixth.

With 1 out, Henry Duque reached on an infield single, moved to second on Tyler Lindquist's bunt and stole third before catcher Ryan Welter's RBI single through the middle of the diamond put the Bulldogs up 5-4.

"I had a rough day Saturday with the bat but I was confident in myself in an RBI situation," said Welter. "I knew I could get a big hit for the team."

"He hasn't had an RBI in about three weeks," Holm said of Welter. "He was our leading RBI guy there for a while. It was a shot - he let his hands do the work."

Courtesy runner Ian Brunton stole second and scored the Bulldogs' sixth run on another 2-out hit from Schofield.

"That's pretty much how our team plays," said Welter. "We're all about each other."

Senior relief specialist Chris Wood (6-0) earned the win and probably could have been credited with the save after entering the game with the bases loaded and 1 out in the fifth.

The right-hander induced an infield pop and a strikeout to end the threat.

"I had total confidence that we were going to win the game when he came in and got out of that jam," Holm said of Wood. "I've never heard of anything like it. He's 6-0 now - all in relief situations."

After the game, Geneva coach Matt Hahn tipped his cap to the Bulldogs.

"I think they deserve a lot of the credit," Hahn said. "They got the timely hits when they needed it - all kinds of timely hits.

"I think we're going to be fine. If we would've kicked the ball around and gave away games at the end with errors and walks, I might be frustrated but I thought we played well.

"We gave ourselves a chance to win all three games."