POPLAR GROVE, Ill.—The only thing that the North Boone baseball team might have been more pleased about than the beautiful weather was the way they played against Big Northern foe Genoa-Kingston on Monday afternoon.
The Vikings got stellar outings from pitchers Matt Self and Gage Vermett, put together some timely hits to bring home runs and played clean defensively to surge to a 7-1 win over the Cogs under sunny skies and temperatures hovering in the mid-60s.
“Everything really pieced together,” Self said. “Our pitching was good from all angles, baserunning (was really good), we didn’t make any errors, which is important, and we worked the count a lot. We made the pitcher throw a lot of pitches and didn't give him anything easy.”
It was the Vikings’ ninth-straight win and was just their second game in the last 10 days after rain and snow shut down any chances to play last week.
North Boone didn’t show any signs of rust as it struck quickly in the second inning. Grady Condon was hit by a pitch with one out, moved to second on Owen Meredith’s sacrifice bunt and scored when Self smacked one past the shortstop. Self, who went to second on the throw home, came around to score when Chris Doetch ripped a triple to deep center field.
“The most fun part for me was that it was the bottom of the order, seven-eight-nine, that really got us started,” head coach Andrew Baden said. “When we can do damage six through nine, we're really tough to beat because our one through five have been pretty good all year. And when we start firing on all cylinders and everybody hits, then it's tough for pitchers to get through our lineup two or three times without giving up runs.”
The top of the lineup struck in the third when Eli Lopez, in the two spot, singled, moved to second on a groundout by RJ Wolski and scored when Ben Neri hit one back up the middle.
Doetch doubled with one out in the fourth and scored on a double by Vermett. Leadoff hitter JJ Ford tripled to center to make it 5-1 and Lopez scored him with a groundout to the shortstop.
“We have talent, and everyone has their own special talent that they put into this team that we have this year,” Doetch said. “I got to give props to my teammates (for today).”
Lopez singled in the sixth, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch before scoring when Condon’s pop up dropped in the infield.
Meanwhile, Self dominated the mound. He only walked one and allowed one earned run on three hits while striking out 10.
“The fastball worked,” Self said. “The changeup worked well for the first time in a while, so that was nice. But it was mostly the fastball.”
“Matt did exactly what he expected of himself, and what I expected of him,” Baden said. “This is year number three in our rotation, so when we see an opponent he’s pitched against five times, I expect him to go out here and have that kind of performance. He did his job and I’m proud of him for it.”
He allowed two singles in the second but got Andy Swider to strike out and end the threat. He then loaded the bases in the fourth and allowed a run on a balk before getting back-to-back strikeouts to escape.
“I always just remind myself that baseball is a mental game,” Self said. “If I collapse mentally, then I might as well just give him the rest of the runs. So, as soon as the first one scored, I had to say, ‘Forget it. That's over. Gotta get the next guy.’”
Vermett came in and struck out four in two clean innings to slam the door.
Doetch went 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run.
“I felt really good tonight,” he said. “Just stepping in the box, I felt confident. First pitch you see, you have to go after it. And that's what I had in mind today.”
Lopez also smacked two hits as seven of the nine Vikings in the lineup produced a hit.
And not only does North Boone (10-3) begin conference play 1-0, but it starts a week where it has five games scheduled off on the right foot.
“We had to win today to make it a springboard into a tough week,” Baden said. “If you have a day where even if you win but you don't play very well, it can set an ominous tone for the week. Coming out here and executing on a high level on Monday makes it a lot easier to win on Tuesday and Wednesday.”
NORTH BOONE 7, GENOA-KINGSTON 1
G-K 000 100 0— 1 3 1
NB 021 301 — 7 9 0
Leading hitters: G-K, Havener 1x3, 1 Run; Cantrell 1x2, R. Swider 1x3. NB, Ford 1x4, 1 Run, 1 RBI; Lopex 2x4, 2 Runs, 1 RBI; Neri 1x4, 1 RBI; Condon 1x2, 1 Run; Self 1x2, 1 RBI; Doetch 2x2, 1 Run, 1 RBI; Vermett 1x3, 1 Run, 1 RBI. 2B: Doetch, Vermett. 3B: Doetch, Ford.
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): G-K, Peterson (L) 3.1-7-6-6-0-3, A. Swider 2.2-2-1-0-2-1. NB, Self (W) 5.0-3-1-1-1-10, Vermett 2.0-0-0-0-0-4
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