York 8, Batavia 4 (12)
The Batavia baseball team had its shares of up-and-down games this year, but Thursday's Class 4A Schaumburg regional semifinal loss to York was a tough one.
After the game was tied at 4, the No. 10 seed Dukes scored 4 times off 3 hits in the top of the 12th and beat the No. 8 seed Batavia, 8-4, in extra innings.
Ending the season 19-13 is the easy part. Saying good-bye to the 10 senior Bulldogs is the tough part.
"We had some great senior leadership, and that showed," Batavia coach Matt Holm said. "Alex (Beckmann), Mike (Sentman) and Brad (Brandenburg), I mean, those guys have been in our infield for three years. I have a very close relationship with Shane Holl…and our center fielder (today, Axel Holm, his son), I live with him…but that all makes it more special because you have guys who are here for a couple years here and there -- and they are all special -- but when you've known them since they were (little)…"
The scene after the game was an emotional, as players were visibly upset and received hugs from their parents, coaches and teammates.
But it wasn't for a lack of effort -- York just came through in the clutch, and as a result, will take on the No. 1 seed, host Schaumburg, Saturday at 11 a.m.
Batavia scored all 4 of its runs early -- a pair of RBI singles from Holl and Jordan Coffey in the first and a 2 RBI double in the fourth from Brandenburg.
York posted its runs in the first (a ground out RBI from Luke Regole), second (a solo home run from Andrew Johnson) and fifth (RBI double from Chris Fisher).
York tied the game at 4 in the top of the seventh after Shay Wagner led off with double and scored on leadoff man Joe Mellone's RBI ground out.
From that point on, both teams struggled to score, despite several chances on both ends.
Batavia left the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh and an additional 9 stranded in extra innings. York left 3 deserted until the big 12th inning, when the Dukes scored 4 times in 3 hits.
"We certainly had our chances," Holm said. "it hurts that much more because we knew we were close. (York) did an absolutely fantastic job over and over -- that's the tough part. Both teams kept making plays to stay in it."
Batavia starter Coffey earned the no-decision after throwing the first 10 innings of the game. He finished with 7 strikeouts, 2 walks and have up 9 hits before Sentman relieved him in the 11th and took the loss.
"Absolutely phenomenal," Holm said of Coffey. "We knew coming in he would give us a shot to win it."
"I don't know how he stayed in there that long," York coach Phil Bodine added on Coffey. "I feel for that kid and all those kids. But I'd rather be on this side of it. That's baseball."
Batavia capped the season 19-13.
"(The season) was successful," Holm said. "You never want the season to end like this. It's hard to say successful when you lose your first playoff game. I think we found out a lot about who we are."