Codys lead Bulldogs past North Stars in regular season finale

By Darryl Mellema

Batavia out-Codyed St. Charles North on Wednesday night.

Cody Balogh, "Cody B" to teammates, and Cody Witkowski, AKA "Cody Wit", combined to put on a goal-scoring show in the host Bulldogs' regular season finale.

They each scored a pair of goals in a wild 4-3 Upstate Eight Conference River Division victory that sends the Bulldogs into the postseason on a high note.

"St. Charles North, they're really good this year," Balogh said. "They've got a bunch of good seniors on their team. It felt good to win that one. To have two goals added on felt even better."

Balogh scored the first two Batavia goals, one from a Witkowski pass and the other on a rebound after a Witkowski shot was spilled by the North Stars goalie.

Witkowski got the final two Bulldog goals, first from a Balogh pass and finally the game-winner with 2:32 to play from a Lalo Cuautle pass.

Balogh said he was aware the linkup with Witkowski was working well.

"He's always been the key guy up top," Balogh said. "But he found me on a good pass. And on the second one, he hit it and I followed up.

"But yeah, we work pretty well together. And with Justin (Reyburn) out wide, it's been pretty good up top."

Batavia (8-7-5, 3-2-1) shifted to a 4-3-3 formation roughly one month ago. The formation, and the pieces filling the different roles, has been tweaked since, but the basic setup has remained.

As Tuesday's regional tournament opener against Benet Academy draws near, the Bulldogs appear comfortable in their new formation.

"There's still some bumps here and there, like on the outside because we don't have any guys out there," Balogh said.

"But with us three working up top, we kind of interchange more. But it's more fluid than it was in the first game."

Batavia's scores, taken collectively, displayed a relentless drive to goal.

"We want to get the ball up and pressure those guys in the center," Bulldogs coach Mark Gianfrancesco said.

"Obviously when you do that, teams give it up. We've scored some nice goals and some gritty goals. I was happy with that."

Balogh's opener came after the Bulldogs gained the ball via a giveaway deep in the North Stars' defensive third. The second goal Balogh scored was a classic case of following a missed shot.

Witkowski's first goal came on a quick break – as did his game-winner, which featured the Bulldogs streaming from end to end of the pitch before scoring.

"I was happy just to be playing well against (St. Charles North)," Gianfrancesco said. "You want to have some momentum going into the tournament.

"Obviously St. Charles North is ranked Top 5 in multiple polls. They have some good guys and we had to grit it out against them."

St. Charles North (15-5-3, 3-3) never made things easy for Batavia. The North Stars took the lead after two minutes on their first attack of the match.

Zack Matuszak got the goal on a throw-in that went directly into the net. And after Balogh's opening goal, Hayden Hagemann restored the visitors' lead from a Matuszak pass two minutes before halftime.

Down 2-1, Batavia surged to win the match. Balogh tied the match 13 minutes into the half and Witkowski gave the Bulldogs their first lead with 20 minutes to play.

Connor Lefelstein leveled the match with 10 minutes to play before Witkowski got the match-winner.

"I think we've been a second half team all year," Gianfrancesco said. "I think we've been a team that plays 'down' well. When we're down, we play well.

"Cody Wit, Cody Balogh, they had very good games today. Justin Reyburn played well and Lalo (Cuautle) was solid in the middle. (Cam) Callipari was solid in the back. Those are good things."

Batavia faces Benet in the opening round of the IHSA tournament on Tuesday at Naperville Central.

"I think the guys are ready," Gianfrancesco said. "I feel good about how we are. St. Charles North is a quality team."