Batavia completes miraculous comeback
Just a mere two weeks ago, Batavia sophomore Nick Pappas laid down a suicide squeeze in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Bulldogs an improbable 4-3 come-from-behind win over Geneva.
Turns out the Bulldogs were about to give new meaning to improbable.
Both Pappas and the winning pitcher that day, senior Tim Schofield, said they hoped the win would be something Batavia could build on, that the Bulldogs could ride the momentum from that win to a strong finish to what had ben a season filled with growing pains.
It's been quite a ride indeed. Better than even the biggest Bulldog backer could have imagined while watching Batavia celebrate that win over Geneva that day.
Batavia capped its stunning climb up the Western Sun Conference standings with an 11-7 win over Yorkville on Thursday, its seventh straight to close the conference season.
Coupled with Kaneland's 8-2 win at DeKalb, the Bulldogs (17-14, 14-7) earned a share of the title with the Knights and Barbs. Ironically, Kaneland also won at Glenbard South in 2005 on the final day to give Batavia a co-championship, which along with last year's title are the only three baseball crowns for Batavia since 1969.
Holm found out the Kaneland score in the fifth and final inning of Batavia's game Thursday. He waited until after the game to tell his players they were now repeat conference champs, and the reaction was...
"Shock, more than anything," Holm said.
To understand why you need to go back two weeks. Entering that pivotal series finale Geneva stood at 12-2 and Batavia 7-7 with seven games to go. The Bulldogs were two outs away from falling to 7-8... now here they are finishing with a better record than the Vikings (13-8), somehow making up 6 games in the standings with 7 remaining.
"Funny thing is that we considered ourselves out of the conference race and have been focusing on a new short season getting ready for the playoffs," Holm said.
Beating Geneva that day wasn't the only significant development. It also was the first time Schofield started after spending most of the season in center field.
The Vikings had slugged 31 runs in the first two wins over Batavia. But Schofield held them to 3 runs in a complete game effort, giving his team a chance for the bunt-filled comeback.
And since then Schofield has continued setting the tone on the mound, winning the first game of the next two series against Glenbard South and Yorkville.
All the while he's maintained a .510 batting average - not counting his home run and 7 RBI on Thursday - turning in a truly special senior season both with his play on the field and his leadership off it as the only returning starter from last year's school-record 30-win team.
There's been plenty of other contributors in the run. Sophomore Danny Seiton smacked 2 home runs in Wednesday's 4-2 win. Ben Allison battled poor pitching conditions to get Thursday's win, then - as he did Tuesday - Kevin Flinn came in to close the game.
Perhaps the biggest key has been the team's defense. After 5- and 6-error games early in the season, the Bulldogs made only 3 errors over the final two weeks.
It all adds up to an absolutely amazing turn of events.
"Incredibly rewarding from the standpoint I didn't expect it," Holm said. "They are scrappers. The team could have tucked their tail and said we're young. But these guys held on to the Battlin' Bulldogs idea we talk so much about. They battled."
jlemon@dailyherald.com