Not only was senior pitcher Jack Watson dominant yet again Thursday for Batavia, the emotion of the big moment spilled out of him as well throughout the rivalry game.
Facing the host Vikings in the Class 4A Geneva Regional semifinals, Watson brought the energy to help propel the Bulldogs all day long — and the reason was pretty obvious.
“I live for this,” a pumped-up Watson said afterward. “Close games, both teams are in it the whole way, it just bumps up the energy 100% and I love it.”
Staked to a one-run lead in the first inning, the right-hander made it stand up for a 2-0 win. He tossed a complete game, striking out nine and scattering six hits and a walk.
Ryne Woods doubled and scored on Ryan Boe’s sacrifice fly in the first for Batavia (17-16). Henry Saul doubled in the sixth and Grant Wardynski scored on an error for insurance.
The Bulldogs will face St. Charles North at 10 a.m. Saturday for the regional title.
Geneva (14-20) was led by Bryce Breon, who struck out three in six innings. He gave up one earned run on four hits and a walk. Aiden Mayer and Nate Stempowski each had two hits.
Watson admitted that he got a little more fired up than usual, but the situation called for it.
“I’ve always shown my emotions a little bit, but not as much as that,” Watson said. “This was a big game. This was a big win for us. We’re just rolling into Saturday.”
Watson’s demeanor was not a surprise to Batavia coach Alex Beckmann.
“That’s who Jack is,” Beckmann said. “He’s a competitor. He hates to lose. He loves to win, obviously. He pitched his butt off (Thursday).
“That first game (of regionals) can sometimes be the toughest one, especially with the wind blowing in. We stuck with it and came out with a big win.”
Batavia jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first and Watson struck out four over the first two innings. In the top of the third, however, Watson got himself into a jam.
Singles from Sam Seykora and Mayer started the inning, bringing up the Vikings’ top player in Stempowski.
Stempowski hit a shot into the hole at second, but Matthew Reksnis made the play and fired to senior shortstop Jackson Bland, who made the turn for the double play.
After another grounder to Reksnis ended the threat, Watson bounced off the mound screaming into his own dugout.
“I couldn’t have drawn it up any better,” Watson said. “That’s what I was looking for with the ground ball right there.
“My teammates made the play for me. That was the biggest play of the day. I would argue that it won us the game.”
It was the exact situation Geneva coach Brad Wendell was hoping to get — two on and nobody out with Stempowski up.
“We had our best hitter up,” Wendell said. “Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t. We had some key situations where we had the right guy up and we just didn’t get it done.”
The last time Watson faced Geneva, he threw a five-inning no-hitter and relied mostly on his change-up.
“I knew coming into (Thursday) they were going to be on it and they were,” Watson said. “I had to go to the curveball early on. It was good that it was there. My fastball also was there.”
Over 12 innings against Geneva this season, Watson struck out 20, walked two and allowed no runs on six hits. And now, the Bulldogs get to play for a regional title.
“We’re really proud of him,” Beckmann said. “We had guys ready to go in, but he wanted it.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.