In the biggest game in school history, the Geneva baseball team went small to get things started in an 11-7 win over Rockford Boylan on Saturday in the Class 3A Sycamore Sectional championship game.

After Titans starter Joey Roscoe retired the first six Geneva batters, the last three hitters in the Vikings’ lineup started the top of the third with singles, including bunts by No. 8 hitter Josh Frieders and No. 9 hitter Tate Beran.

It spurred a five-run inning for the Vikings (32-7) as they built an 11-1 lead on Boylan (24-15) after four innings.

Geneva, sectional champions for the first time in school history, advance to face East Peoria in the Geneseo Supersectional at 6 p.m. Monday at Stone Field at Richmond Hill Park.

“They weren’t shifting right, so we were taking advantage of what they give us,” said Frieders, who scored in the third on a sacrifice fly by Nick Torrence. “We just stick to what we do best, and it just worked.”

Frieders was 3 for 3 and scored in both the third and fourth innings. The Vikings scored all 11 runs in those two innings, with Gavin Dworak leading off both times and coming around to score, once on a walk by Mason Bruesch and once when Bruesch was hit by a pitch.

Frieders, Beran and Bruesch also scored twice each. Nelson Wendell had a two-run triple in the third to cap the scoring. He laid down a bunt in the second, but it died in the wet dirt in front of the catcher.

Still, it laid out the game plan a few batters later. And his triple was the first extra-base hit the Vikings had and one of only three in the game - Torrence had a two-run double in the fourth and Frieders had a double in the seventh.

Wendell said he was sitting curveball on his triple and Roscoe obliged, allowing him to poke it into right field. He added that Dworak, Frieders and Beran all had big games at the plate.

“Bottom of the order was amazing today,” Wendell said. “I think they had half of our hits, maybe [five of eight]. They did really well and they started the fire and kept building on that.”

The Vikings are a win away from their first state trip. They’re facing a 26-13 East Peoria team that hasn’t won a sectional nor been to state since taking second in 1974.

Wendell said it was a great feeling after Geneva reliever Blake Kopec struck out Alex Valentine for his sixth strikeout in 2⅓ innings.

“The school has never gone to a super before, and we knew coming in we had the team that could do this,” Frieders said. “It was just getting over the hump, getting through our conference. Just after that first playoff win, we knew we could do it.”

The Titans avoided the run-rule, breaking through off Geneva starter Noah Hallahan in the bottom of the fifth. Cooper Anderson started by reaching on an error, then a double by No. 9 hitter Michael Davenport put runners on second and third.

The Titans scored four runs that inning, including a two-run homer by Noah McDermott, who finished 3 for 3 with two runs and three RBIs.

Kopec, who has pitched more than 40 innings this year mostly in relief, came in to get the final out and cruised until the seventh. The Titans scored two off of him before he closed the door.

Hallahan allowed four earned runs, five total, and seven hits in 4⅔ innings. He struck out five and walked two. Kopec allowed two earned runs, two walks and two hits.

Geneva coach Brad Wendell said both his pitchers threw great games.

“I think Noah threw super well and super hard,” Brad Wendell said. “It’s hot out here today, I think that got to him a little today. ... They do a good job putting bat on ball. They’re not scared of someone who throws hard. Blake was ready to go, they got a couple bleeders through, but he threw hard.”

Brad Wendell said he was proud of how his team came ready to play. Frieders said the Vikings had been thinking of this moment since they lost to Glenbard West 8-1 in a 4A regional semifinal last year.

Every playoff game for the Raiders has been decided by four runs or less and they haven’t allowed more than three runs since May 22.

“We’re all really excited for the opportunity,” Nelson Wendell said. “If we all go out there and play great ball, then we’ll have a great shot at winning no matter what.”

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Geneva's Noah Hallahan (19) holds up the sectional championship plaque while being surrounded by teammates after securing the win over Rockford Boylan Catholic in the Class 3A Sycamore Sectional finals game on Saturday June 6, 2026, held at Sycamore Community Park in Sycamore. (David Toney for Shaw Local News /David Toney)