Batavia’s Coleman blanks Geneva again
After four years of varsity softball at Batavia, Katie Coleman’s playing days are quickly coming to a close.
The senior righty is going out in style. She tossed her latest gem Friday, a 2-hit shutout in Batavia’s 8-0 win at Geneva.
That wrapped up Batavia’s regular season with the No. 10 seeded Bulldogs (20-15, 10-9) guaranteed at least one more game next Wednesday when they meet No. 7 seed Plainfield East in the Class 4A Romeoville regional.
Whenever that final game comes, Coleman will be finished playing a sport she said she started “when I was about 3.” As a freshman, Coleman joined her sister Kelly on Batavia’s varsity team.
She has been a mainstay on the team the past four years, but next year Coleman will attend Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and focus on school.
“My major is dental hygiene, it didn’t mix well,” said Coleman who also just shut out UEC River champ St. Charles North last week and said playing with her sister has been the highlight of her four years at Batavia.
“I’ll miss it because I’ve been playing for so long. I’ve enjoyed it. Our team has always been really fun to play with all of them every year.”
If there’s one person glad to see Coleman go, it’s Geneva coach Greg Dierks. In two games this spring against Coleman, Geneva (16-17, 6-13) didn’t score a run and managed just 4 hits.
“She has dominated us,” Dierks said. “We have not been able to solve her and I’m glad she’s graduating. We’ll go on to somebody else next year. It’s not a velocity thing. She hits her spot well, she moves the ball around well, she’s very accurate. The catcher is not diving around back there.”
Batavia gave Coleman all the offense she would need in the first inning off Geneva starter Natalie Erbe. Sami Villarreal led off with a single and took second when freshman Ryanne Rokos coaxed a walk.
Katie Neubauer bunted the runners over and after Erbe retired Katie Ryan on a hard grounder to third, Coleman helped herself with a 2-run double to the left-field gap. Paige Zochert singled to score Coleman and put Batavia up 3-0 after an inning.
“I had a really solid defense behind me and our offense came out really aggressive,” Coleman said. “It calmed me down because we jumped on them so early.”
Batavia made it 5-0 in the second on another 2-run double, this one from Neubauer to score Meghan Fabian and Rokos.
An RBI single from Rokos and a Geneva error plated two more runs in the fourth to put Batavia ahead 7-0. The Bulldogs scored their final run in the sixth when Ryan doubled off the fence and came in on Coleman’s single.
Geneva didn’t get a hit off Coleman until the fourth when Kristin Searcy ripped a ball to deep right. The Vikings’ only other hit came when Amanda Ebert singled in the fifth.
Geneva plays DeKalb in a doubleheader Saturday trying to get over the .500 mark heading into regional play Tuesday against Downers Grove North.
“It’s a little disappointing to look at the conference record,” Dierks said. “We thought we’d finish a little higher than that.”
Rokos, Ryan, Coleman and Mueller all had 2 hits for Batavia. Coleman struck out four and walked two while throwing to catcher Karina Danielson.
“My catchers are working really well with me, moving the ball around and not staying on one pitch,” Coleman said.
If Batavia can win its first regional game next week, the Bulldogs likely will play No. 2 seed Naperville Central who Batavia recently split a doubleheader with.
“Very proud of them overall,” Batavia coach Ashley Szymski said. “Offense, defense, Katie on the mound, it was just a good day. If this is the team that shows up next week, we’ve got a good shot.”