Softball: Batavia gets first conference win of the season with 3-1 victory over Geneva

BATAVIA – Getting a win on Senior Night always is a great feeling. Getting a win over an archrival in the last home game of the season feels even better.

Batavia got to experience that after pulling off a 3-1 victory over Geneva on May 8.

The win was the Bulldogs’ first against a DuKane Conference opponent this season after starting conference play with an 0-10 mark. The win also snapped a six-game losing streak.

“I’m very excited for my seven seniors on their last home game,” Batavia coach Torry Pryor said. “Anytime you face your archrivals, no matter what state of the season you’re in, it’s always going to be a battle.”

After the Vikings tied the game 1-1 in the top of the sixth inning, the Bulldogs (3-18, 1-10 DuKane) started the bottom half with Mackenzie Krouch lining a double to center field and Gwen Shouse legging out an infield single. Adriana Platt drove in Krouch after grounding out to the shortstop for the go-ahead run and Shouse added an insurance run by scoring on a wild pitch.

The three runs were more than enough for Emily Reagan, who tossed a scoreless seventh to get the win.

“I knew I just needed to stay relaxed and that my defense had my back,” Reagan said. “So I just attacked the zone and let them hit the ball.”

In her final home game at Batavia, Reagan, a Milliken University commit, gave up six hits and no earned runs while striking out seven.

“Emily is a good pitcher and she was hitting her spots,” Pryor said. “She threw some good pitches and kept the hitters off-balance at the plate and that’s why she got the win today.”

Bella Zagotta got the Bulldogs on the scoreboard in the fourth inning after launching a ball over the left-field fence for a solo home run. Zagotta, also playing in her final home game at Batavia, said that with it being Senior Night against a rival, she was swinging hard at the plate.

“I knew I had to be up in the box and attack the early strikes,” Zagotta said. “It felt really good seeing the ball go over the wall and seeing my teammates at home plate is always a good feeling.”

Geneva (5-18, 1-10) tied the game in the top of the sixth, getting three straight batters on base to start the inning. Hailey Hornick’s RBI single drove in Kaitlyn Sprague.

Vikings coach Annie Plackett said it was great to get the tying run, but it also was too little, too late for her team.

“We waited a little too long to get the bats going,” Plackett said. “It felt great to tie up the game. That’s their job.”

Plackett was pleased with the Vikings’ performance on the field and in the circle. Elise Strohm went all six innings for Geneva, allowing five hits and two earned runs while striking out three. The defense did not commit an error.

“Our pitcher was doing great. She was hitting her spots,” Plackett said. “Wherever she was pitching, I could tell where it was going and she was doing a great job with that. And defensively, we played strong.”

Batavia and Geneva are set for a rubber match in the regional quarterfinals May 20 at Geneva. The winner of that game will face Wheaton North in the semifinals.

For Batavia, the goal will be to try to get on the scoreboard first while keeping the energy high throughout the game.

“We need to attack early in the game because that’s what we did this time and it worked,” Zagotta said. “In our first game, we didn’t really attack early, so I think just trying to score first and get the momentum going is what we’ll take into the next game.”

For Geneva, the game plan is simple: Get hits on the board.

“We’ve got to come out early and stop dropping our hands,” Plackett said. “That’s all we’ve been doing wrong is that we’ve been dropping our hands.”