Geneva bounces back, beats St. Charles N.

St. Charles North and Geneva's softball teams had a lot in common Friday besides both wearing pink to raise money for cancer research.

The North Stars and Vikings both entered the game having lost to a rival this week in disappointing fashion, St. Charles North to St. Charles East in a game that likely decided the Upstate Eight Conference River title, and Geneva a surprise setback to Batavia.

It turned out Geneva (17-7, 13-5) was the team able to best put the loss behind them, getting a run-scoring single up the middle from Maddie Keith to score Rylie Porretto with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning in the Vikings' 5-4 victory.

"We were devastated when we lost to Batavia," Porretto said. "It was a low blow. We got back there and we never give up. We used that as motivation to win this game. We had so much energy. It was a great feeling getting up there knowing all my teammates were behind me. We played an amazing game."

St. Charles North (19-5, 14-4), now two games behind St. Charles East (25-4, 17-2), fell behind early 3-0.

Coach Tom Poulin didn't use the short turnaround from Thursday's 6-3 loss to the Saints as an excuse.

"It shouldn't be," Poulin said. "You still have an opportunity to win conference. This should have been our best attitude and our best effort. It shouldn't have been hard to turn around from a game like yesterday because there's still a lot to play for."

Emily Plocinski relieved Rachel Fanella in the seventh for the Vikings before Keith came through with the walk-off hit in the bottom of the inning.

Geneva coach Greg Dierks said he liked how his team tightened up after the North Stars responded to the early deficit.

"The fact we stopped them at 3 and they didn't get ahead of us was good for the whole squad," Dierks said. "I didn't think we were going to win 1-0 today. I figured they would get a few."

Porretto started the winning rally with a 1-out double in the bottom of the seventh. Keith had not had a good day at the plate before delivering when it mattered most after getting ahead in the count.

"I was looking for a pitch that was my pitch and did what I need to do for my team," Keith said. "It was a very fun game to be in.

"The biggest thing was to have focus. I forgot about all my other at-bats in the game. I knew what I needed to do in that position and got it done."

"She had a couple tough at-bats," Dierks said. "Sometimes I think for her she wants to succeed so badly. I think that last swing she dialed down a little bit and it was a nice stroke up the middle."

Geneva returns to action Saturday with a rare doubleheader with games against both Streamwood and Rosary.

Dierks hopes the team can use Friday's win for momentum heading into the postseason.

"In a way we've been waiting for this," Dierks said. "I told them to reflect on this and what we are capable of. A lot of enthusiasm and fight in us. We played hard and we played well. We're capable of doing these things. We have to keep it going. It's one thing to tell them they can do it, now they have seen themselves do it. Hopefully they can duplicate it on a regular basis."

For the second straight day, Poulin was looking for more out of his defense early in the game.

"I thought a couple of the runs we could have not allowed," Poulin said. "Some baserunners early in the game got on that should have been outs. I thought a lot of plays the girls have made all year or decisions the girls have made all year weren't made.

"We've got to regroup. And luckily this isn't the tournament. Luckily we have some games ahead of us to get back in the groove like we were for a stretch."