Blake Kopec could see Geneva coach Brad Wendell walking to the mound.

With just one out in the seventh inning, Kopec gave up an RBI double to Glenbard West’s Liam Hepner, who represented the tying run in a two-run ball game, and put the go-ahead run at the plate.

And even with his coach walking to the mound and the pressure building, the Geneva senior knew exactly what he wanted.

“He (Wendell) looked at me and I just told him that I got this, and he trusted me,” Kopec said. “That’s the type of relationship that we’ve built over four years of playing together.”

And turns out, Wendell had plenty of reason to trust him. Kopec allowed another run to score on a sacrifice fly and put the tying run on third, but ended the game with a strikeout to help the Vikings walk away with a 4-3 victory over the Hilltoppers.

“That was just an electric feeling,” Kopec said. “Those are the types of things that you dream of.”

Kopec got the win on the mound for the Vikings (3-1), finishing the game allowing two hits and two earned runs over 3⅔ innings in relief. He also had seven strikeouts, with his first two coming after taking the mound with the bases loaded in the fourth inning with the score tied at 1-1.

“This is something he’s been doing regularly for us now,” Wendell said. “He was a little dinged up last year but now we expect him to step up there in key situations, and we’re going to keep expecting him to handle that. He got a little tired at the end, but he fought through it and competed his butt off.”

The Hilltoppers (3-1) started the seventh inning trailing 4-1 before getting three of their first four batters on base in the inning, including Hepner’s RBI double. Finn Sheeley cut it to a one-run game on a sacrifice fly that scored Mason Flaherty, but Glenbard West couldn’t get the final key hit.

“We knew we were capable of coming back, our guys know that we’ve got 21 outs,” Hilltoppers coach Andy Schultz said. “I expected us to put up a fight there at the end. But Geneva outplayed us a little bit. Even with everything, I feel good about how everything went besides the result.”

Junior Mason Bruesch got the start on the mound for the Vikings, allowing two hits and one run while striking out seven in 3⅓ innings. He also kicked off the scoring with an RBI double in the first.

“Mason looked really sharp early on in that game,” Wendell said. “He got tired a little bit, but it’s early in the season and he competed really hard. When he’s on, he can be electric.”

Alex Abraham gave the Vikings the lead for good in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly that made it 2-1. Geneva added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run from Noah Hallahan and an RBI single from Tate Beran.

“It was a good thing that the offense put up those extra run support,” Kopec said. “It made me feel better and a lot more confident going out there, knowing the game can’t be tied on one swing. The offense really got it done.”

Tommy Lewison got the start for the Hilltoppers, allowing three hits and two runs (one earned) while striking out four over 4⅔ innings. He gave up all of his hits in the first two innings, and went on to retire eight straight batters from the second through the fourth inning.

“He was able to limit the damage and made some good pitches,” Schultz said. “I told him doing that’s going to come back and matter later on and it did. But he always competes and I never have to worry about whether he’s going to give in to anybody he faces. He’s going to challenge guys and give everything that he has.”