Baseball: Niemiec's double lifts Batavia over Willowbrook

All Batavia's Kyle Niemiec wanted was another chance.

Niemiec, who was called out for missing first base after lashing an apparent double down the left-field line to lead off the second inning, returned to the plate for his third at-bat with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth.

The senior cleanup hitter slammed a bases-clearing double to straightaway center, and the 3-run extra-base hit proved to be the difference during the Bulldogs' 4-1 nonconference baseball triumph over Willowbrook (2-3) Tuesday morning at Wheaton College's Lee Pfund Field.

"That's a hitter's dream right there - bases loaded," said Niemiec. "They had a whole shift to left and I was like, 'all right, I'm keeping my hands in and I'll try to put it the other way. He (Willowbrook pitcher Matt Garbacz) just left one right down the middle - that's where I like it."

Niemiec's base hit came one pitch after Luke Beckmann (2 for 3) reached on a "sun" single - a high fly ball that the Warriors' center fielder lost in the sun.

"We had to take advantage of those moments, that's what good teams do," said Niemiec. "They would have done the same thing to us."

Willowbrook grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third off Batavia left-hander Ben Lynam.

Following back-to-back singles by Cam Zunkel and Matt Pizur, designated hitter Kyle Martyniuk coaxed a walk to load the bases with nobody out.

Kyle Ferguson then lofted a pop fly single down the right-field line that scored Zunkel. However, the Bulldogs (3-0) avoided further damage when Lynam retrieved an errant throw from the outfield that bounced off the back wall and tossed the ball to catcher Tyler Munoz, who tagged Pizur for the first out of the inning.

At that point, Bulldogs coach Matt Holm elected to go to his bullpen - and the strategy paid off.

Senior southpaw Michael Fossali fanned the next two batters to end the third-inning threat.

"Ben's usually lights out but he was having a hard time leaving everything up," Holm said of Lynam, who walked four and fanned three in 2 ⅓ innings of work. "It was big for Fossali to not only do that (escape the third) but come out the next two innings and hold them."

Batavia tied it in the fifth as Glenn Albanese Jr. sliced a 1-out triple down the right-field line and scored on Andrew Costigan's sacrifice fly.

"That's what really got the offensive momentum going," Holm said of the triple.

Junior Ethan Krumwiede (1-0) and sophomore Jared Martin worked scoreless sixth and seventh innings, respectively.

Pizur had a pair of hits for the Warriors, who stranded 12 baserunners.

"We left a ton of guys on base," said Warriors coach Vic Wisner. "I thought we had a ton of good at-bats but we couldn't get the big hit when we had to.

"Every time we play these guys it's the same exact thing," added the coach. "It's always a really tight ballgame."