Geneva sweeps St. Charles East, stays in race
It has been quite a 24-hour time span for Geneva’s baseball team.
One day after exploding for a 15-run fifth inning en route to Friday’s 17-1 victory over St. Charles North, the Vikings (22-7, 15-7) swept a doubleheader from St. Charles East (19-9, 17-5) by scores of 4-3 and 9-7 Saturday in Geneva.
With the three wins over their rivals from St. Charles, the Vikings kept their Upstate Eight Conference River Division title hopes alive heading into the final week of the regular season.
“By sweeping today, we’re only two (games) out with three to go,” said Vikings coach Matt Hahn, whose team will close out conference action this week with a 3-game series against Streamwood. “Right now, East has five losses, North has six, and we have seven so if we can take care of business ...
“The stars would have to align a little bit but you can’t ask for anything more than going into the last week with a chance to win conference,” added Hahn.
One star who was properly aligned Saturday was Vikings senior Matt Williams.
The NIU-bound quarterback recorded saves in both games, added a 2-run double in Game 1, and delivered a clutch 3-run home run in the nightcap to put the Vikings on top for good.
“Think about it — he hits the go-ahead home run, closing out both games, he gets saves in both games,” Hahn said of Williams, who also took a potential 2-run home run away from Nicholas Erickson with his catch at the center field fence in the fifth inning of Game 2.
“I’ve been coaching a long time and there’s nobody I want to have the ball as much as him. If I had to put an All-Star team together, I’d want him on my team. I want the ball in his hands.”
Perhaps the bat, too.
With runners on first and second and 2 outs in the fifth, Williams sent a high 0-2 fastball from Saints reliever Johnny Hondlik sailing over the left field fence for a 3-run home run to give Geneva a 9-7 lead.
“He spotted his fastball well on the outside corner the first two pitches,” said Williams, who now has 6 saves. “They were hitting me up all day on curveballs but I was kind of looking for three hard ones and got them. It was a little higher but I put a bat on the ball and let it go.”
“It was a 0-2 pitch right where we wanted,” said Saints coach Len Asquini. “It was up in his eyes but he went up and got it.”
The home run capped a 4-run fifth inning that was extended when a Saints outfielder slipped to the wet grass while trying to catch a 2-out fly ball off the bat of Jake Weede.
After a single by Andy Francis (4-for-5 in Game 2), Matt Brandys’ RBI single through the middle closed the gap to 7-6 and ended the day for Saints southpaw starter Kyle Manske (6-1).
“Kyle missed some spots today,” said Asquini. “We’ll go back to some basics and get him back to where we need him to be.”
Two-out hits were a thorn in the Saints’ side throughout the twin bill.
“Eight of their 13 runs came with two outs — six in the second game and two in the first game,” said Asquini. “We’re going to have to do a better job there, get more focused and get that done on the mound.”
St. Charles East trailed 5-2 after 3 innings of Game 2 before staging a 5-run rally in the fourth that featured Erickson’s 2-run double and a run-scoring double from Tommy Wilson, who added an RBI single in the third.
In the opener, the Saints struck first with a 2-run second that was highlighted by Erickson’s RBI single. But Geneva starting pitcher Tony Landi (3-1), who earned a win over St. Charles North in his first start on May 4, settled down from there and helped give Williams a 1-run lead to work with in the sixth.
“To beat two of the better teams in the area, if not the two best teams in the area, is marvelous,” Hahn said of Landi. “He’s another guy we can count on and trust going into the playoffs.”
St. Charles East begins a 3-game series with St. Charles North Tuesday at East.
“It’s a big three-game series but these were big, too,” said Asquini. “We could’ve separated ourselves a little bit today but that didn’t happen. Now it’ll get interesting next week.”