Baseball: Batavia blows out Geneva
It all went right for host Batavia in an 11-1, five-inning victory over rival Geneva Friday.
The Bulldogs won their fourth straight DuKane Conference baseball game by dominating all three phases in the series opener.
They outhit the Vikings 16-4, pitcher Drew Iutzwig yielded a lone unearned run and the defense had his back on multiple outstanding plays.
"It was probably the most complete game we've played this year," Batavia coach Alex Beckmann said.
The tone was set both ways in the first inning. Geneva No. 3 hitter Nick Black scalded an Iutzwig pitch about as hard as it could be hit, yet Batavia third baseman Joey Sartain made a backhanded stab of the line drive to save a double.
"They started hitting the ball hard, but the defense was behind me making plays," Iutzwig said. "That built my confidence up where I could just pound the zone." The junior right-hander went on to strike out 4 without a walk.
The hyped-up Bulldogs then sent 10 men to the plate in the bottom in jumping to a 5-0 lead against Geneva starting pitcher Blake Breon.
Cole Nelson opened the scoring with a 2-run single up the middle and the barrage lasted five innings. Eight of nine Bulldogs in the starting lineup had at least a hit. The first six in the order enjoyed multihit games.
Marko Yager doubled twice and drove in a run. Quinn Urwiler (2-for-4, RBI) tripled. Carter Gette (2-for-4) doubled and drove in a pair. Sartain went 3-for-4 and knocked in the game-ending hit to invoke the 10-run rule with no outs in the fifth.
"Our confidence was up," Yager said. "Playing at home against Geneva, big crowd - it was really important to get a good start and get a good punch in first."
Batavia senior Cole Nelson went 3-for-4 with a triple a double and 3 RBI. He led off the fifth inning of a 10-1 game needing a home run to hit for the cycle but hit a flyball to right field.
"All the coaches were telling me to go for it," Nelson said. "It got in my head a little bit. I swung at one high and inside and just didn't get enough. If it's a tied game, no way I do that."
Geneva (8-12-1, 2-8) has lost five straight and nine of 10. The Vikings smashed five line drives caught for outs.
"We hit the ball hard but just right at them," Geneva coach Brad Wendell said. "The thing about them is they hit it away from us. And they hit it over us. And when they hit little groundballs, they hit it through us. And with (infielders) in they blooped it over us. Baseball is a funny game. It was one of those games. We've been in a little slump and we have to find a way to get out of it."
Black, Jackson Chase, Ryan Stempowski and Mike Klazura managed the only hits for Geneva.