Baseball: Bruesch excels both ways, leads Geneva over St. Charles East for school-record 27th win
Mason Bruesch felt like he was due for a big hit.
With Geneva holding a two-run lead over St. Charles East in the fifth inning Wednesday, the junior was looking to add some extra cushion for once he got back onto the mound. And on a 2-1 pitch, he finally got the hit that he wanted.
Bruesch’s home run kicked off an eight-run fifth inning, and the Michigan State commit closed the door on the mound to help the Vikings secure a 10-0 victory over the Saints.
“I felt like I was in a little bit of a slump since our last series,” Bruesch said. “It’s been a bit since I had a home run, so felt good to get some barrels and have the offense back me up on the mound.”
With the win, the Vikings (27-6, 16-5 DuKane Conference) set the program record for wins in a season. They had also secured their first DuKane Conference title with a win to open the series.
“This has been a group with expectations and we knew that after last year, but we didn’t surprise anyone this year,” Vikings coach Brad Wendell said. “They’ve stepped up every step of the way, and it’s been because of different guys in different games. It’s not always Mason Bruesch like it was this game. He just handles his business like that.”
That cohesiveness showed in the fifth inning, with nine consecutive Geneva batters reaching base, eight by base hit.
Gavin Dworak provided the most damage in the inning, hitting his second triple of the day to bring home three runs before scoring on the very next batter to bring them to double digits. Alex Abraham also added a pair of RBIs in the game.
“He (Dworak) has been sitting in the seven or eight spot all year, but he came up big here,” Wendell said. “You’re going to win some games when you do that. We had a better approach at the plate and we got on base, and that’s all we’re asking of the guys and that led to some good things.”
Meanwhile, Bruesch took care of business on the mound. He went all five innings, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out four batters, one of which ended the game with a runner on third.
“The defense was really there for me,” Bruesch said. “Nick Lozano made some phenomenal plays in centerfield, my infield backed me up and Abraham behind the dish framed the ball super well. Knowing that the defense is there, you can really pepper it into the zone.”
Kyle LaRose had the only hit for the Saints (20-12, 12-9), ripping a single to right field to lead off the fourth inning. Sean Groselak was the only other base runner in the game, working a walk in the fifth inning.
“We’ve had the approach of just attacking the ball, and it’s started since our last series against Batavia,” Saints coach Derek Sutor said. “We knew they were going to throw their top guy at us, and we had those long at bats and hit the ball hard, it just was right to them.”
Despite the loss, the Saints finished the regular season with a third-place finish in the conference, their best finish since Sutor took over in 2024.
“We just want to stay hungry in the postseason,” Sutor said. “Our motto this whole season is ‘wash well.’ If a bad day like this happens, we go home, clean it off and come back for a brand new day, because that’s just the game.”