North baseball beats Geneva, stays perfect in UEC River

GENEVA – It wasn’t the easiest situation for the St. Charles North baseball team and relief pitcher Tim Hasto.

With starter Tyler Mettetal cruising through his April 28 start against Geneva, the junior southpaw headed immediately to the dugout after throwing a fifth-inning pitch.

Hasto was called on from the cold North dugout to come in and hold a lead. The right-hander did his job to help the North Stars hold off the Vikings, 4-1, to take the first two games of the Upstate Eight Conference River Division series.

"It's something I've never done before," Hasto said of the quick call from coach Todd Genke. "It's not something you expect, but I knew I had to calm down and take my time warming up, making sure I got all my pitches in without feeling rushed. That was the biggest thing, just making sure I took my time."

With a 3-1 lead, Hasto didn't get the easiest welcome after a ground ball by Geneva leadoff hitter Dylan Baer went through the legs of third baseman Sam Fick. However, the next pitch Hasto threw was again hit to Fick, who knocked down a tough hop and threw out Justin Hasegawa at first base to end the inning.

Genke was unsure of the extent of the injury to Mettetal, a South Carolina recruit and the team's No. 3 hitter. Mettetal left the field minutes after the incident occurred. It did deflate the spirits of the North Stars slightly, but North (16-2, 11-0 UEC River) has always had a next man up mentality.

"Obviously, guys are concerned," Genke said. "I mean, his brother (Zach Mettetal) is standing out at shortstop. I just kind of got the infielders together before Timmy came in and said, 'Let's do this one for Tyler.' We had to focus on the task at hand, and it's hard because they know what's going on. We could have came undone there, but they did a great job.

"Timmy Hasto did a great job. It's a kid taking advantage of an opportunity. He wasn't really ready to pitch, obviously because Tyler was cruising, and to come in against a good Geneva team, (at Geneva), in a big conference game, it was impressive to watch."

Hasto did not pick up a win due to the length of the outing from Tyler Mettetal, who struck out six. Still, Hasto finished 2 1/3 scoreless innings to help the North Stars remain unbeaten in conference.

Mettetal fanned the final four batters he faced before exiting midway through Baer's at-bat in the fifth inning. Mettetal added an RBI double in the first inning to open the scoring. John LeGare also drove in a run in the first.

Geneva (14-6, 8-3) got an unearned run back in its half of the first inning, but couldn't muster too much more offensively against North's pitching duo.

LeGare, who reached base in each of his four plate appearances, said keeping the energy up on the bench after the injury was important for the team's psyche.

"Just keeping it loud on the bench was one of the biggest things to do," LeGare said. "They're unbelievable. It's definitely the difference in some of our closest games this season. The chirping that they do keeps us focused out there and keeps the other teams on their toes. We have a special group of guys here."

North has now won 28 of its past 29 UEC River contests.

This isn't the first tough North team that Geneva coach Matt Hahn has faced in his 12 seasons. He was quite proud of his Vikings after the loss, but also knew how well Geneva must play to beat the North Stars.

"They're just really good," Hahn said. "There's no easy out in their lineup. Their relief pitchers throw just as hard as their starters do and they're tough. I'm proud because we have hung in there against a very good team in these first two games. We gave them our best effort and that's really all we can ask for."

The series finale will take place at 4:30 p.m. April 29 at North, with probables Trevor Wilcox (Geneva) and Ryan Litavecz (North) on the mound.