Batavia’s rally salvages split with St. Charles E.
Held to just 3 hits through the first 13 innings of Saturday’s doubleheader with St. Charles East, Batavia bats suddenly came to life in the nick of time.
Sophomore Micah Coffey’s clutch 2-run single with 2 outs in bottom of the seventh capped a furious 5-run, 4-hit rally that propelled the Bulldogs (10-7, 8-4) to a 6-5 victory in Game 2 of the Upstate Eight Conference River Division twin bill in Batavia.
With runners on second and third, the left-handed hitting Coffey fell behind 0-2 in the count before lining a 1-2 offering from Saints closer Johnny Hondlik into left-center, sending Robbie Bowman and Laren Eustace home with the tying and game-winning runs.
“It was a fastball up and out a little bit,” said Coffey. “I got a good piece of it.”
Bulldogs coach Matt Holm was happy to have Coffey in the batter’s box with the game on the line.
“I have incredible confidence in that kid even with a 0-2 count,” said Holm. “If you look at his stats, he’s hitting with two strikes almost all the time. He’s a two-strike hitter. It reminds me of (Tim) Drish from a couple years ago, where it would be a 0-2 count and then he’d drive the ball. Micah is kind of like that. He battles all the time.”
An inning earlier, Coffey drove in the Bulldogs’ first run of the game with an infield single — on another 0-2 pitch.
“I think it’s just (a matter of) trusting my hands,” Coffey said of his 2-strike hitting approach. “Obviously I’m not trying to get down two strikes but I’m trying to trust my hands and go with the ball where it’s pitched.”
The improbable ending that included a run-scoring triple from Luke Horton, an RBI single from Bowman, walks to Aaron Hurd and Eustace, and Sam Burnoski’s RBI groundout, allowed the Bulldogs to salvage a split of the doubleheader after the Saints (11-6, 9-3) won the opener, 3-1.
“We finally hit the ball for the first time in the game,” said Holm, whose team was no-hit by Saints starting pitcher Nick Huskisson for the first 5 innings. “It (the win) keeps us a game behind them in the conference, and our goal was to not lose ground and tie up the conference while Geneva is in its off-week.
“It wasn’t like we were going up there and whiffing,” added Holm. “We just couldn’t get a ball squared up.”
St. Charles East grabbed a 5-0 lead with a pair of sixth-inning runs provided by back-to-back RBI doubles from Nicholas Erickson and Jordan Hayes before Batavia’s late-inning comeback snapped the Saints’ 6-game win streak.
“We did a lot of great things out here today but in the end they came back and kind of stung us on that one,” said Saints coach Len Asquini. “They did a nice job of fighting there and scoring the runs they needed at the end. It was right there — we just didn’t get it done.”
In Game 1, senior Luke Ludke (2-1) needed just 68 pitches while firing a 1-hit complete game. The right-hander, who struck out 5, walked 2 and hit a pair of batters, held the Bulldogs without a base hit until Steve Durham led off the fifth with a double down the left-field line.
“I was feeling real good today — probably the best I’ve felt this year,” said Ludke. “I could locate my fastball and my off-speed (pitch) was working for the most part.”
Ludke, who felt a twinge in his lower back on a fourth-inning pitch, battled through the pain.
“I was just trying to fight through it and finish the game,” said Ludke.
“He threw super,” Asquini said of the 6-4 Ludke, who tossed 7 scoreless innings in a no-decision effort earlier against Lake Park. “He works the zone and goes, goes, goes.”
“We got 13 great innings out of our pitchers,” added Asquini. “Unfortunately that one inning of missing our spots cost us the loss but you’ve got to take care of things throughout the whole game — every out.”
Batavia’s Nick Pappas and St. Charles East ace Kyle Manske are the probable pitchers for Tuesday’s rubber game of the series in St. Charles.