Prep baseball: Genoa-Kingston struggles with runners on base as Byron avenges earlier loss

GENOA – The game ended for the Genoa-Kingston baseball team just as it started Tuesday – with the Cogs leaving the bases loaded against Byron ace Braden Smith.

Smith struck out 14, and the Tigers used a four-run seventh inning to expand a one-run lead to five in an eventual 5-1 win over the Cogs, avenging a 9-8 extra-inning loss to G-K on Saturday.

Every time the Cogs (6-17 overall, 5-13 Big Northern Conference) would mount a rally, Smith would shut them down. In the seventh, the Cogs broke through with their first run when Declan Creadon singled home Nathan Kleba, who reached on Smith’s second walk of the game.

“They’re a 1 seed, and we saw their No. 1,” Genoa-Kingston coach Roger Butler said. “From where we started the beginning of the season to where we’re finishing, I’m happy the boys have bought in and are working hard.”

After playing what he said was one of the team’s best games of the season, Butler said the Cogs played one of their worst games Monday against Rockford Christian, a 16-1 loss. He said he was glad to see the team play competitively against the No. 1 seed in the Class 2A Byron Regional.

The Tigers (16-7, 11-6) broke through in the third when No. 8 hitter Jeremiah Paulson walked, the first runner to reach off G-K starter Ben Younker. Kye Aiken singled, then Brayden Knoll grounded to third. After getting the force, Creadon fired to first, but the throw was offline and Aiken scored.

That was the only run of the game until Younker gave up back-to-back one-out walks in the seventh. After he was pulled, Aidan Awe allowed a walk to load the bases, a two-run single to pinch hitter Jack Lorenz, an RBI double to Ashton Henkel and a run-scoring groundout to Smith.

“It gave us a little bit of freedom in that seventh,” Byron coach Dale Hartman said. “Braden, his pitch count was getting up there and he felt good. It’s tough going out there with a 1-0 lead, that’s razor-thin. It was really big for us to score.”

The Cogs managed four hits off Smith while striking out 14 times and drawing two walks. The Cogs loaded the bases in the first off Smith behind a walk and two errors, but he got the last two batters, including a strikeout. The Cogs also got the first two hitters on base in the third with an error and a single by Younker, but Smith struck out the next two and then got a popup to right to end the rally.

“He had command of all his pitches tonight and pitched ahead,” Hartman said. “I don’t know what his strikes to balls ratio was but it was pretty good. He threw a lot of strikes tonight.”

Younker walked four, struck out five, allowed six hits and three runs – two earned.

The Cogs face Indian Creek on Thursday then start the postseason Monday with a play-in game at Johnsburg in the 2A Richmond-Burton Regional. The winner faces the No. 1 seed and host Rockets on Wednesday.

“It makes me happy. It shows they’re not quitting,” Butler said. “We’ve had spots this year where we get the head in the sand and bail. We didn’t do it today, and that’s a good sign moving forward.

“We still have some things to work on, and we have a couple days to get that work done,” he said. “Overall we’re going to go in and see a Johnsubrg team that is like us. It should be a good game.”

Hartman said it felt good to make up for Saturday’s loss to the Cogs.

“It was a really satisfying win,” Hartman said. “We really felt like we kind of blew one Saturday. We dropped a pop-up in the infield that they then tied it in the top of the seventh with two outs. We catch the pop-up, game over. We wanted to get one back. No doubt about that.”