Clark's blast rallies Batavia past Marmion
Jay Clark picked an opportune time to hit the first home run of his varsity career.
The left-handed hitting catcher smacked a 2-out, 2-run home run to snap a 5-5 sixth-inning tie and Batavia's baseball team (1-2) fought off a late Marmion comeback to edge the Cadets 7-6 Wednesday afternoon in Batavia.
Trailing 5-4 heading into the bottom of the sixth, the Bulldogs tied the game on Anthony Carby's RBI single that brought home Andrew Scaccia, who had singled and stole second, setting the stage for Clark's late-inning heroics.
"It was my first home run really ever," said Clark, who used more like a three-quarters swing to launch the opposite-field long ball. "Coach (Matt Holm) wants us to work the other way on pitches over the outer half (of the plate).
"It felt really good. It was a rush (running around the bases)."
Holm was pleased for Clark, whose opposite-field double helped lead to the Bulldogs' first-inning run.
"He's stronger than he thinks," said the coach. "He's worked very, very hard for several years and he's been the backup (catcher). His bat is one thing that we're confident in and he's done a heck of a job behind the plate."
Batavia, which fell behind Marmion southpaw starting pitcher Tim Tarter 5-1 after 4 1/2 innings, began its late-inning rally with a 3-run fifth, highlighted by Braden Hrack's solo home run and a 2-run clout off the bat of Kevin Flinn.
"We were trying to do too much early instead of just taking the ball where he (Tarter) was pitching it," said Holm. "Later on we had several nice balls hit to the opposite field because guys were willing to go that way. That's what we need to have."
Marmion (1-4) took a brief 1-0 lead on Tarter's sacrifice fly in the first inning before scoring 3 more runs in the third, capitalizing on base hits from Jordan Meyer, Joe Wulff and Chris Tydd and a pair of Batavia errors.
Tydd's RBI groundout upped the Cadets' lead to 5-1 as Tarter fanned 7 and walked 3 before exiting following Hrack's home run and Joe Melby's pinch-hit single opened the fifth.
"Tim did a great job on the mound," said Marmion coach Dave Rakow. "He was throwing strikes and he was keeping the ball low. We're real happy with him because he actually had a stress fracture in his elbow as a sophomore and didn't pitch a whole lot last year.
"It was really encouraging for him to be able to throw four or five innings and not feel pain."
Jack Gunderson (0-1) suffered the loss for the Cadets, who made it 7-6 on Wulff's RBI double in the seventh before the potential game-tying run was snuffed out at home.
Batavia shortstop Danny Seiton fielded Tydd's infield grounder deep in the hole and threw late to first baseman Nick Leonard, who alertly fired the ball home where Clark applied the tag to a hard-charging Wulff.
"He made an aggressive play and I'm not going to fault him for that," said Rakow, himself a Batavia graduate. "Even though we lost, I think it's something we can build on. To be honest, I liked the way we played today."
Junior Mickey Walsh (1-1) tossed 3 innings of 1-run relief to notch his first varsity victory.
"It's always nice to play Marmion and beat them," said Holm. "Dave (Rakow) and I - as much as we love each other - we've got to beat each other."