Kaneland claims 1st title

Who said making history was going to be easy?

Kaneland's first conference baseball championship was anything but, from the 1-4 start to the conference season to the position the Knights found themselves in heading into the final week.

Yet Kaneland got that elusive title Thursday with an 8-2 victory in DeKalb, surviving several anxious moments in the fifth and sixth innings before junior Corey Landers ended the suspense in the seventh.

Landers' bases-clearing 3-run double turned the nail-biter into a much more relaxing bottom of the seventh. Jake Tickle struck out the final two batters to end the game and start a celebration that included team photos with the scoreboard and coach Brian Aversa getting drenched with a bucket of water.

"It feels great, especially going out on a high note with the end of this conference," Kaneland catcher Tyler Callaghan said. "We just played well and finished the season on a good note."

Kaneland (22-12, 14-7) earned a share with DeKalb (19-9, 14-7) by winning two of three this week from the Barbs. Batavia also finished at 14-7 with a 7-game win streak to close the season.

The Western Sun certainly proved to be a competitive baseball conference. If three different champions in the first three years - Geneva in '07, Sycamore in '08 and Batavia last year - wasn't enough to prove that, the teams outdid themselves in Year Four with a three-way tie.

"We're happy to be part of it," said Aversa, whose team is one win away from matching last year's program-record 23 wins. "Last season in the Western Sun I suppose it's fitting to have a lot of company at the top.

"Our guys have worked their butts off. We are just trying to gain a little respect as DeKalb was and hopefully that puts us there."

The game started with a sprinkle that turned to a steady rain throughout. Joe Camiliere got the Knights off to a good start by doubling in the first and scoring on Dave Dudzinski's hard single up the middle. Dudzinski and Bobby Thorson came home on pitcher Jake Lemay's (4-3) two-out throwing error.

DeKalb cut the lead to 3-1 in the first but left runners at second and third, the start of several key plays Kaneland made to get out of innings.

Lemay quieted Kaneland's bats from the third through sixth innings, allowing just 1 hit. That left Knights starter Steve Colombe protecting a 4-1 lead.

With two on, two outs and playing conditions worsening in the fifth, Callaghan made a sliding catch on a foul pop to retire Lemay, DeKalb's No. 3 hitter.

"I probably could have played it a little better than I did," Callaghan said. "It was tough with the wind and rain and slipping on the glass."

A hit batter and walk ended Colombe's day in the sixth. Tickle entered and walked two batters. One run scored on a wild pitch making it 4-2, but Tickle picked a runner off first base and then got the third out with a called third strike on a 3-2 pitch, stranding the tying runs.

"It was huge because one through nine they can hit," Callaghan said. "It is huge to get out of those jams especially with a slim lead. And then being able to come into the next inning on a good note and build the lead up."

Landers did that with his 3-run double that scored Camiliere, Thorson and Callaghan who had reached on a pair of walks and hit batter.

"Coach said don't be afraid to get hits," Landers said. "It was a big chance. I came up to the plate, he gave me the pitch I was looking for and I took advantage of that."

Kaneland scored its 8 runs on just 6 hits but Colombe and Tickle held the Barbs to 4 hits. Tickle, who is 8-0 in relief, earned his first save. Colombe improved to 5-3 allowing 4 hits and 2 runs in 5 2/3 innings.

"We had our back against the wall after last night," Aversa said of a 5-2 loss. "We just felt we had a letdown last night. We felt this was ours to take and we had to go out and do it."

DeKalb settles for a share of the title, its first since 1959.

"It is bitter because of the way it ended up but at the same time it is fitting the two of us battled the way we did," Barbs coach Justin Keck said.

"The more the merrier. It goes back to the conversations that have been had all year as far as what the baseball in this conference is all about. It (stinks) we are not going to be part of this anymore."