Baseball: Lozano’s grand slam turns tide in Geneva’s high-scoring victory over St. Charles North
It’s a moment that every kid dreams of in some way. Bases loaded, two outs and a full count in a close ball game.
That’s the moment Nick Lozano found himself in with Geneva up one over St. Charles North in the fourth inning of a back-and-forth contest.
And with a chance to extend the lead for the team, the sophomore was just hoping to make contact.
“I’ve had a bit of a timing issue and I’m not on the ball,” Lozano said. “I was just praying to make contact and drive the ball right up the middle and get a nice little bloop single.”
His swing sent the ball right up the middle and up into the air, but it ended up being just more than a bloop single.
Lozano drove the ball over the center-field fence for a grand slam, opening the flood gates for the Vikings to take a 16-8 victory in six innings over the North Stars in their first full game of DuKane Conference play.
“That was just insane,” Lozano said. “I couldn’t believe it at first. I was running as fast as I could because I thought maybe it would be a wall shot. I was looking to get a triple because I knew we could go down again. But it was a whole rush of adrenaline.”
Lozano’s grand blast capped off a six-run inning for the Vikings (12-1 overall, 1-0 DuKane), who entered the bottom of the fourth trailing 7-6 after allowing four runs in the top half of the inning.
“That was a huge hit from Lozano,” Vikings coach Brad Wendell said. “The game felt like it was going back and forth, and that was kind of a turn of the tide for us. He just got all of it.”
There was plenty of reason for that teetering feeling. Tyler Gleason gave the North Stars (6-6-1, 0-1) the first lead of the day on a three-run home run in the second inning.
It wouldn’t take long for the Vikings to respond. After Lozano got them on the board with a double, Josh Frieders tied the game with a two-run single, and Nelson Wendell gave them a 4-3 lead with an RBI double.
“We just needed to keep putting runs on when we could,” Brad Wendell said. “They don’t give up runs a lot. We just can’t relax against a team like St. Charles North, they’ve been on top for a long time. And in this conference, it’s always down to the last out.”
The North Stars also faced a moment with two outs and the bases loaded in the top half of the fourth trailing 6-3. The deficit ended up being short-lived thanks to back-to-back, two-run hits from Langdon Straub and Chase Ferguson to make it 7-6. Mason Netcel added a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning.
“I thought we had a really good approach at the plate and barreled up some baseballs,” North Stars coach Todd Genke said. “But I told the guys that this field is like Wrigley Field, there’s no safe lead here, especially with some wind. I never thought we were out of it. But when you score eight runs, you should be able to win.”
The main issue for North ended up being the fielding. The North Stars finished the game committing 10 errors.
“It’s something about going from grass to turf and turf to grass, but at the end of the day you have to pick it up, throw it and catch it,” Genke said. “And against a good-hitting team, you can’t give them extra outs. But we’ll learn from this, and we continued to compete.”
Alex Abraham added extra insurance in the top of the fifth with a two-run home run for the Vikings, who have now won 12 straight games after opening the season with a loss to Yorkville.
“We’ve been playing some good ball, and we’re just hoping we can continue to do that,” Brad Wendell said. “Throwing strikes on the mound, playing clean defense and putting some good at-bats together, and we’ll take the results of that.”