Baseball: Brotherly love prevails in Geneva's win over Elgin
Brothers Hunter and Tyler Venditti gave their family plenty to talk about around the dinner table Wednesday after pitching Geneva to an 8-2 win at Elgin.
The right-handers combined to limit the Maroons to 2 runs, 1 earned, on 3 hits and a walk and struck out 10 as the Vikings won the middle game of the 3-game Upstate Eight River series. Geneva (14-10-1, 10-5-1) won Tuesday's series opener 14-7.
Hunter Venditti (3-0), a junior making his second start of the season and eighth appearance, held Elgin (6-20, 3-15) to 2 hits and a walk and struck out 7 in 5 innings.
Older brother Tyler Venditti took over in the sixth inning and shut the door to earn the save. The senior faced 7 batters over 2 innings, allowed 1 hit and struck out 3.
Would talk of their solid outings monopolize the family's dinner-table conversation?
"Of course, especially since we pitched so good," Hunter said. "I think it'll be an interesting dinner. It's definitely cool."
Geneva jumped to a 4-0 lead in the top of the second inning against Elgin starting pitcher Jack Sitter (1-5), though 2 runs were unearned. Joshua Rose's double drove in Dominic Guido to stake the Vikings to the lead. Nick Black's single drove in the second run. Senior left fielder Nathan Dewey capped the rally by going with a pitch on the outside edge for a 2-run single up the middle.
"I kind of realized that he was throwing outside," Dewey said. "I wanted to get out in front of it so I choked up a little bit and just poked it out there."
Sitter led Elgin's fourth-inning comeback. Batting third, he ripped a 1-0 fastball for a double to the left-center field fence, scoring Kyle Coates.
The extra-base hit came at the right time for the senior, who said he has been working with the Elgin coaching staff on taking bigger swings early in the count.
"I've been really frustrated lately taking those big swings and fouling it straight back and losing confidence," Sitter said. "This is the first time I've connected on one that well where I don't even feel it."
Matt Turner followed with a sharp single to left field. Sitter scored when the ball got past the left fielder for an error.
Otherwise, the Maroons had little luck against the brothers Venditti, and Geneva scored 4 runs in the seventh to put the game out of reach.
"Hunter threw great," Geneva coach Brad Wendell said. "It was a good outing for him and Tyler was sharp right after that. That's really good news for us."
Guido finished 2-for-4 with a double and Sean Baumgartner hit a 2-run single in the seventh inning for Geneva.
Elgin leadoff man Tim Mitchell joined Sitter and Turner as the only Maroons to hit safely.