Geneva beats Marmion, wins 5th straight

The seemingly comfortable Geneva lead was suddenly sliced in half after Marmion batted in its half of the fifth inning Friday afternoon.

But Geneva matched the Cadets’ total in the bottom of the fifth, restoring its 6-run baseball lead in the process and ultimately closing out Marmion at home with a 9-3 victory.

Andy Honiotes pitched 5 innings to receive the victory for the Vikings, who extended their season-long unbeaten streak to five games with the nonconference victory in Geneva.

Marmion fell for the fourth time in five outings.

“That’s something we preach all the time is that you have to have an answer (when the other team scores),” Geneva coach Matt Hahn said. “We have been fortunate this year of having production throughout our lineup.”

Andy Young and Alex Troop had two-out run-scoring singles in consecutive at-bats to bring Marmion within 6-3 in the top of the fifth.

But the Cadets’ hopes of overcoming a 6-run deficit ran out of steam quickly in the Vikings’ half.

Jake Weede had an RBI single with one out, and Matt Williams, who opened the scoring with an opposite-field solo home run in the first, had his second and third RBIs of the game with a clutch single.

Tony Landi pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Honiotes, who improved to 2-0 on the year with the win.

“It wasn’t my prettiest out there,” said Honiotes, who admittedly struggled in the chilly weather to pinpoint his control. “I had the slider working today. I got (control of) my slider early in the game, and that’s (the pitch) I went with.”

After Williams’ right-field home run in the first put Geneva ahead to stay, Matt Brandys’ second at-bat ensured Honiotes would be well-aided by the Vikings’ offense.

Brandys’ drive, with Andy Francis aboard following a leadoff third-inning walk, snaked inside the left-field foul pole to extend the lead to 3-0.

“(The Marmion pitcher) gave me a good pitch to hit,” Brandys said. “I think it snuck in (the foul pole) and hooked (foul) at the end.”

The Cadets’ deficit was later doubled in the third, largely as a result of a physical error — a throwing gaffe — and a mental mistake — throwing to the wrong base on a sacrifice.

To make matters worse for Marmion, its batters, including the game-ender, looked at called strikes six times.

“We were way too passive at the plate,” Marmion coach Dave Rakow said. “We were too passive in the field. If you don’t swing the bats, you can’t score any runs.”

The Vikings’ Bobby Hess and Luke Polishak were credited with third-inning RBIs on a bases-loaded walk and sacrifice fly, respectively.