Geneva denies Streamwood outright title
Playing the game the right way paid off for Geneva’s Chris Hipchen at the most opportune time Thursday.
Standing at first base with his team trailing Streamwood by a run and two outs in the last of the seventh inning, Hipchen got a great jump on a little flare into right field by Andy Francis.
What looked like a harmless floater fell in front of Streamwood’s right fielder, and Hipchen hustled all the way from first to score on the play and tie the game at 8. The Sabres followed by throwing low to first base on Brad Bernhard’s chopper to shortstop, and Francis scored to give the Vikings an improbable 9-8 victory.
Geneva’s win denied Streamwood (26-6, 19-6) an outright Upstate Eight Conference River Division championship. Instead the Sabres share top honors with St. Charles East, who earned its half by beating St. Charles North 3-0 Thursday.
With Villanova-bound Josh Harris on the mound in the seventh and one out to go, it didn’t look like Streamwood would be sharing with anybody.
Hipchen and Francis had other ideas.
“I ask the kids their No. 1 goal before the season, he (Hipchen) said, ‘To play the right way all the time,’” Geneva coach Matt Hahn said. “And he does.”
“He’s been doing that all year. Most people don’t notice that. If he’s not busting out of the gate maybe we don’t score. He’s taking extra bases constantly. That’s just the way he plays.”
Francis has been hitting well, which helped keep Streamwood’s outfield deep and allow his ball to fall, which surprised even him.
“I didn’t realize how deep he was playing,” Francis said. “I just tried to put the ball in play.
“Whenever you face a guy like that (Harris) you have to be on your best game. I think we did that today. We put the ball in play.”
Geneva (20-10, 17-8) ended up 2 games behind the conference co-champs. The Vikings played spoiler twice in the final two weeks, taking two of three from both St. Charles East and Streamwood — even if that wasn’t the goal.
“We told the guys we need to be ready for the regional and we will use today to get ready for the regional,” Hahn said. “It wasn’t about let’s ruin it for them. I like all the coaches in the conference, I respect them all. It was fun. This was like a playoff game.”
Streamwood, which rallied from a 5-0 deficit to beat Geneva Wednesday, found itself down 7-5 in the fifth inning Thursday thanks in part to another home run by Geneva sophomore Mitch Endriukaitis.
A triple by Richie Gorski and a 2-out RBI single from Tim Cohen made it a 7-6 game in the fifth, then Harris tied the game 7-7 with an opposite field home run in the sixth.
The Sabres scratched out another run in the sixth to grab an 8-7 lead. Pinch-runner Brent Kiesel scored on Patrick Manning’s sacrifice fly after a bunt from Nick Pryor and a single by Nate Pearson had moved Kiesel to third base.
Streamwood had a chance to give Harris some insurance but left the bases loaded in the top of the seventh against winner Matt Williams (3-1) who pitched the final 2 innings.
“You get a couple more there and this (Geneva’s 7th-inning rally) doesn’t make a difference,” Streamwood coach Steve Diversey said.
Diversey quickly picked up his players as Geneva stormed the field to celebrate in the bottom of the seventh, telling them they are still champions — the first in Streamwood’s school history.
“We came in today with nothing to lose,” Diversey said. “There is nothing to hang their heads about. That’s a tough one to lose, two outs and a little bleeder ties it up. It happens. There’s nothing to worry about.”
Diversey praised his 13 seniors and 6 underclassmen who made history for the Sabres.
“The tide turns year to year and it was our year,” Diversey said. “Next year we’ll be back in that rebuilding year. I know they (Geneva) will be a force to reckon with. Tip you hat, they are a good team.”
While the Vikings weren’t able to win the Upstate Eight in their first year, Thursday’s victory did give them 20 wins for the sixth time in seven years.
“We wish we could have won the conference title but this is just as good,” Francis said. “We know we are one of the best teams in conference. I think we proved it today.”