Geneva thwarts West Aurora’s rally
Geneva needed a fireman, and Kyle Bender answered the call.
The Vikings’ senior recorded three consecutive outs against host West Aurora, and Geneva secured its 7-4 nonconference baseball victory Saturday afternoon in Aurora as a result.
But it was the Vikings’ middle hurler, senior Marcus Stierwalt, who earned his first victory of the season.
After relieving sophomore right-handed starter Jordan Touro, Stierwalt was masterful from the fourth through the start of the seventh to earn the win.
“(Stierwalt) did a great job,” said Geneva coach Matt Hahn. “(West Aurora) is a good team. They have already beat some very good teams. He kept them off-balance.”
“I had a lot of help in the field,” Stierwalt said. “I’m not much of a strikeout pitcher and need to rely on the guys in the field to make plays.”
Geneva (2-1) plated a pair of two-out runs in the top of the first to fashion a lead never to be relinquished.
Captain Brad Bernhard had the first of his two run-scoring base hits with an opposite-field double, and the senior made it 2-0 in favor of Geneva when he scored on Matt Williams’ line single to left.
West Aurora senior Stevie Acevedo would have the first of his two doubles in the first to halve the Blackhawks’ deficit, but Touro would have a critical consecutive strikeout sequence with the bases loaded to prevent further damage.
“We had several chances early,” lamented West Aurora coach John Reeves.
The Blackhawks’ inability to turn a tailor-made double-play grounder cost them another run in the Vikings’ second, and Geneva would capitalize further on two costly West Aurora miscues in its fourth.
After the Blackhawks (3-2) closed the gap with an unearned run in their third, Erin Melin coaxed a walk to lead off the Vikings’ fateful fourth inning.
When all was over, Geneva batted around, scoring four times on three hits and a pair of West Aurora errors.
Mike Monaghan and Bernhard delivered run-scoring singles, and Swiderski had the first of his two extra-base hits, both doubles, to score Chris Hipchen.
Suddenly, the Vikings’ lead had swelled to 7-2 after three and half innings.
“Defensively, we were terrible,” Reeves said. “We weren’t helping (starting pitcher) Tommy (Goulding) out. When you don’t make the plays, you prolong the inning and the pitch count.”
“It’s been an interesting start (to the season),” said Bernhard, who has struggled offensively. “It’s all about the guys ahead of me. Those (two-out) hits don’t mean anything if they’re not on (base).”
West Aurora loaded the bases with none out its half of the seventh, but Bender closed out the game with a strikeout, run-scoring groundout and a line drive to right.