Saturday afternoon there was a celebration involving Batavia baseball, but it wasn't the kind you expect.
Certainly, the happiness over a 6-4 win against top-seeded Wheaton North in the St. Charles North Sectional Final was evident. There was an appreciation of history as well, as the Bulldogs knew they were just the second Batavia team to ever reach a super-sectional.
But in talking with coach Matt Holm and several of the players following their championship, the thing the Bulldogs were truly celebrating was each other -- their team, their family. Getting them to talk about playing Cary-Grove in the Rockford Super-Sectional on Monday was almost like pulling teeth. That focus was meant for today's practice.
Saturday was about the joy of team, and the journey there.
Holm remembered a captain's meeting before the season where he challenged his group "to realize how good we're going to be if we all play together."
And now?
"It's been incredible, to come out and play every day with the quality baseball we play," Holm said. "We're just feeling what I felt we had at the beginning. Convincing them that they could all do it together was the biggest part."
The Bulldogs improved to 30-6 on the year with the win, as starter Brian Krolikowski scattered eight hits in a complete game. But he didn't want to talk about holding a very good Falcons lineup in check for most of the game.
Instead, he wanted to talk about the poor slider he threw to Wheaton North star Jack DeAno in the bottom of the fifth that turned into a 3-run home run and tied the game 4-4.
The Miami of Ohio-bound right-hander wanted to thank his coach -- and his teammates -- for putting him in a position to overcome what could have been a devastating blow.
"Every single guy on the team, even the guys that weren't playing, were coming up to me and saying 'We got you,'" Krolikowski said. "It shows that we trust one another with the bats. They tied it up and the guys on the team didn't want to deal with that so they got a couple more runs and trusted me with the ball."
He then harkened back to a time in the not-to-distant past when such a home run would have sent him into a rage and effectively ended his time on the mound.
"I really owe it to Coach Holm for me keeping my composure," Krolikowski said. "He's taught me so much over the years on how to keep my composure and how to act like a real ballplayer on the mound. Of course I was frustrated, what pitcher wouldn't be, but I was able to take a deep breath and realize it was a tie game and rely on our bats to get a couple more runs and they did exactly that."
In the top of the sixth, the Bulldogs scratched out two more runs off DeAno -- who entered the game with a 2.02 earned run average -- to once again take the lead.
"That's the story of our season -- if we're down, we're never out," said Jordan Coffey, who started the rally with a single in the top of the sixth. "All these guys battle."
Which circles back to the beginning of the year, when Holm challenged his team to come together. They call themselves the Battlin' Bulldogs, an appropriate moniker in what is shaping up to be the greatest season in Batavia baseball history.
"(Coach Holm) said to be a team you have to play as one, there are no individuals on this team," said catcher Ryan Welter, who drove in a run in the decisive sixth inning. "We have guys that are playing college ball, we have great individuals on the team, but when it comes down to playing the game we're are one.
"That's what we pride ourselves on. We know that if someone did something wrong, or if we don't get a big hit, the next guy will pick us up. That's just the confidence we have in each other and that's what pulled us together."
jowczarski@scn1.com
Baseball: Class 4A St. Charles North Regional
Close
Community Login
You've successfully logged in to the Sun-Times Media Community, click the close button to return to browsing.
Facebook App
Font Size
Email
Bookmark
Black Text
Cell Phone Alerts