Sroka sinks Glenbard E.

There's reason why the No. 4 hitter in the batting order is called the cleanup man.

Geneva's Alex Sroka did his best to live up to the cleanup man's billing, going 4-for-4 with a home run, 2 doubles and 5 RBI, lifting the host Vikings (20-11) to a 9-3 triumph over 20th-seeded Glenbard East (11-21) in Wednesday's Class 4A baseball regional semifinal in Geneva.

Sroka, whose RBI double tied the game 1-1 in the first inning, belted a 3-run home run in the fifth and added another RBI double in the sixth to provide some insurance for right-hander Riley Perry (8-2), who fanned 8 while going the distance for the Vikings.

"I just had a lot of fun today - going up there relaxed," said Sroka. "These were my first at-bats of the playoffs. I just tried to go up there and smack the ball hard like any other at-bat."

Sroka's ninth home run of the season came on a low off-speed pitch from Rams starter Cody Thompson (5-4).

"I've had a few of those this year," Sroka said of swinging at a pitch that probably was out of the strike zone. "He started me off with a curveball on the previous at-bat so I thought maybe he'd try to get ahead with some off-speed.

"I think that pitch was a curveball, and a lot of my home runs have been first pitches. I just figured I'd go get it."

Sean Grady led off the fifth with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Brian Cornick before Cory Hofstetter was walked, setting the stage for Sroka.

"Guys have pitched around Cory most of the year and Alex has picked up the slack," said Geneva coach Matt Hahn. "Cory's been walked 25 times this year. There's a reason why Alex is at the top in RBI and hits and all that stuff in the area - it's because he's had opportunities with guys on base and he's taken advantage of them all."

Hofstetter, who left the game with a strained left hamstring after his 2-run double in the sixth, went 3-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBI from the No. 3 hole.

"They've both hit the ball hard all year," said Hahn.

"We couldn't figure out No. 5 (Hofstetter) or No. 20 (Sroka) all game," said Rams coach Nick Scipione. "We threw a ball that was 10 feet outside and almost under the ground and the kid (Sroka) jacked a 3-run homer. That's when the momentum was lost right there. We got a little bit back when it was 5-3 - but two outs in the sixth and we kind of lost it."

Glenbard East took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the first before the Vikings capitalized on a Ram error during their 2-run bottom half of the frame.

"I think coming back in that first inning and scoring two helped us," said Hahn, whose fourth-seeded Vikings will shoot for their third consecutive regional championship Saturday against either Conant or Schaumburg.

Kevin McGarry provided a highlight for the Rams with his 2-run, sixth-inning double before the Vikings put it away with 4 runs in their half of the inning.

Perry overcame a bit of wildness (4 walks, 3 hit batsmen) during his complete-game performance.

"He got outs when we needed them," said Hahn. "He put us in position to win and our offense did well today."