ST. CHARLES -- St. Charles North's Zach Hirsch appears to be back in top form, and that should be a scary prospect for the rest of the Upstate Eight Conference.
After losing his first two decisions of the year, Hirsch won his second in a row Monday with a dominating performance in the North Stars' 7-0 victory against Larkin.
By effectively mixing his fastball, curveball and splitter, the junior lefty quickly mowed down the Royals, striking out nine and walking none en route to a complete-game shutout that took roughly 90 minutes to finish.
"I was hitting my spots really well today and was able to throw all three of my pitches for strikes," Hirsch said. "I like to work quick, and it's just good to get back out here."
Hirsch's effort was reminiscent of the consistent success he enjoyed last year when he earned unanimous All-UEC honors after compiling an 8-0 record with a 0.93 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings.
Larkin (6-8, 5-6) did manage five hits off Hirsch, but three of those came on bunt singles.
The Royals' only real scoring threat came in the third inning when Justin Kalusa and John Banks reached on back-to-back two-out bunts to put runners at first and third. However, that threat came to an end when Kalusa was picked off third on a controversial call.
"We faced (Hirsch) last year and I don't think we scored a run, and if we face him again next year I don't know if we're going to score a run," Larkin coach Doug Ellett said. "He's a good pitcher and he doesn't give you very many opportunities.
"We came down here hoping to put a little pressure on him, but we weren't able to do that."
With Hirsch (2-2) working on autopilot, North's hitters took care of business by connecting for nine hits against Larkin starter Luc Geier.
The North Stars broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third when Sam Weinberg, K.C. Wright and Ryan Richardson drove in runs in consecutive at-bats to open a 3-0 lead.
Sophomore catcher Matt Stevens added a solo home run to straight-away center in the fourth, and North (9-4, 5-1) tacked on three more runs in the sixth on Brian De la Torriente's two-run single and Scott Kuczynski's RBI single.
"Guys are starting to realize our potential and they are starting to realize that we are a pretty decent team," North coach Todd Genke said. "When we get guys on base, we are starting to drive them in, where earlier in the season we weren't doing that. We swung the bats pretty well today. Getting nine hits, I'll take that."
All seven runs allowed by Geier (1-3) were earned. He struck out two and walked one in six innings of work.
Kalusa finished 3-for-3 for the Royals, reaching base on a pair of bunt singles and a bloop single to shallow right in the sixth. He also stole two bases.
Wright led North's balanced attack at the plate, going 2-for-3. Seven different players scored runs for the North Stars.
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