Baseball: Geneva's Wilcox handcuffs St. Charles East

Geneva baseball coach Matt Hahn has the utmost confidence in his team's defense.

That inner trust can rub off on the pitching staff.

Senior right-hander Trevor Wilcox (1-2) pitched 1-hit ball for the first four innings and worked his way out of a pair of late-inning jams thanks in part to some solid defensive plays Thursday afternoon.

The Vikings (9-4, 5-1) put the game out of reach with a 6-run sixth during their eventual 10-2 Upstate Eight Conference River Division victory over St. Charles East (6-5, 2-2) in Geneva.

"Trevor was fantastic," said Hahn. "In the first four innings, I think he had (thrown) 32 pitches. We ask him to keep us in ballgames and our defense was very good."

Wilcox only struck out one but didn't walk a batter - and he didn't face a single 3-ball count until the sixth inning.

"They (the Saints) don't strike out so if you know your pitcher is going to throw strikes and not walk guys with the defense we have behind him …" said Hahn. "This might be the best defensive team I've had in my 12 years (at Geneva).

"He isn't overpowering but he throws 3 ½ pitches for strikes and he kept them off-balance. Knowing that defense is behind you - that's a big deal."

That fancy glove work came in handy to thwart a Saints' sixth-inning comeback.

After back-to-back hits from Austin Gift and Kyle Tiltges, Jimmy Dale (2 for 3) laced an RBI single to cut the Vikings' lead to 4-1.

Niko Klebosits (2 for 3) added another single to load the bases for pinch-hitter John Dellostritto, who ripped a sinking line drive to right.

Geneva's Matt Simpson made a diving catch to rob Dellostritto of what could have been an extra-base hit. Instead, the sacrifice fly trimmed the Saints' deficit to 4-2, and Wilcox retired the next batter on a groundout to end the threat.

"I think we did a great job executing on defense today," said Vikings senior second baseman Justin Hasegawa, who went 2 for 5 with a double and an RBI. "Our pitchers have to have trust in us and let us do the rest."

Geneva grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI single by designated hitter Vince Pray before adding a pair of unearned runs in the third.

St. Charles East committed 5 of its 7 errors in the third - a common theme for the Saints in their two losses to Geneva this week.

"That's 14 errors in three games," said Saints coach Len Asquini. "This is a group that can get it done. What we're obviously working for is some consistency here.

"You see what happens when we play our game (5-1 win on Wednesday). We can be pretty dang tough but if we only do it one out of every three times this is going to be a really long and frustrating season."

A.J. Hostman finished 3 for 4 with 3 RBI for the Vikings.

"If you win every series, you're going to be in the mix at the end," said Hahn.