Changing on the fly

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ST. CHARLES -- Adam Karger came in undefeated on the mound. Tim Drish, Brian Krolikowski and Jordan Coffey had pounded out more than 20 home runs in the middle of the order.

Batavia definitely was set up for success Thursday against Wheaton Warrenville South in a St. Charles North Sectional semifinal.

But to get past the Tigers, the Bulldogs used an underrated defense and some "small ball" to advance to the sectional title game with a 7-2 victory. Batavia will take on Wheaton North at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Charles North for a spot in Monday's Class 4A Rockford Super-Sectional.

The Tigers (20-14) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run single by catcher Jon O'Neil. He was moved to third on a single by starting pitcher Robert Grabek, but Grabek's courtesy runner was gunned down by Batavia catcher Ryan Welter on an attempted steal to end the inning.

Then in the third, with WW South still up 2-0, Welter pegged Neil Johnston trying to steal after a leadoff single.

"That's an aspect of my game I pride myself on -- I come into every game making sure no one runs on me," Welter said.

Mike Olp promptly followed that play with a single to left, but when he tried to stretch it to second base, Drish threw him out.

"Running on (Drish) just isn't too smart," Welter said. "He's got an arm and everyone knows it. We're playing our defense as one and it's all about being a team and that's what we're doing."

In the decisive fourth inning, Batavia (29-6) tallied five runs on just three hits. Drish led off with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Grabek (8-3) and scored on a single by Krolikowski. Coffey then drew a walk, which set up a sacrifice bunt attempt by Karger.

The senior laid it down in front of home plate, and O'Neil's throw sailed into right field to score Krolikowski.

Henry DuQue singled to drive in Coffey and a sacrifice bunt by Tyler Lindquist moved Karger to third. He was then driven on a sacrifice fly by Welter. DuQue was then plated to make it 5-2 on an infield hit beat out by leadoff man Tim Schofield.

"We've been doing that all year," Karger said. "We put pressure on the defense and if they make mistakes, we capitalize. We just find little ways to get insurance runs. It was a big rally to come back."

The stellar Batavia defense continued in the top of the fifth as second baseman Joe Aguliar saved a run for Karger by making a diving stab on a line drive by Olp to keep Batavia ahead 5-3. Drish followed that up with an offensive show in the bottom of the fifth with a leadoff homer to make it 6-2.

After that rough first inning in which the Tigers had four hits, Karger (10-0) settled in to scatter just six more in a complete-game effort. He struck out six and left six Tigers on base. "We just couldn't get that hit when we needed it," Tigers coach Tim Brylka said. "(Karger's) a very good pitcher and it's hard to square him up. There's a reason why he's undefeated. He's good." Baseball: Class 4A St. Charles North Sectional