Royse helps Larkin get back on track

Updated: April 22, 2011 2:00PM

BARTLETT - Austin Royse's solid pitching effort Wednesday helped Larkin notch a much-needed win and denied Bartlett some much-needed momentum.

Unlike the previous two days when the top two Royals pitchers struggled on the mound, Royse managed to hold the opposition in check in a 7-2 Upstate Eight Conference crossover victory against the Hawks.

The triumph snapped a three-game losing streak for Larkin (7-5, 2-3) and sent Bartlett (4-9, 1-5) to its sixth loss in seven games.

"This was a good win, but you don't want to get too high with the wins or too low with the losses," Larkin coach Matt Esterino said. "In this conference it's just another day and you always have another tough team coming up."

Royse pitched with a lead throughout after Miguel Villafane stepped to the plate with one out in the top of the first and sent a two-run home run over the fence in right field. The Royals tacked on two more runs in the second for a 4-0 lead, which was more than enough support for their junior hurler.

The Hawks tallied two runs in the bottom of the second off Royse (3-0), but he settled down after that and ended up going the distance on the mound. Royse scattered seven hits, walked two and struck out five en route to the victory.

"We have a really strong defense and I trust those guys as much as possible," Royse said. "My job is to throw strikes and hit my spots and let the defense do the rest."

Trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth, Bartlett looked ready to mount a rally when Tyler Farina doubled off the wall in deep center with one out to bring home David Mutter from first. The run came off the scoreboard moments later, though, as the Royals successfully appealed that Mutter failed to touch third while rounding the bases.

The sequence was typical of the early season struggles for Bartlett, which was unable to build off a win against Batavia on Tuesday that ended a five-game skid. The Hawks stranded eight runners on base against the Royals and committed three fielding errors.

"We weren't ready to play today," Bartlett coach Chris Pemberton said. "We thought we had kind of turned the corner with a successful game against Batavia, but we just kind of came out and went through the motions.

"We didn't hit the ball well, we didn't pitch well and we didn't play defense well. When you fail in all three of those areas the other team is going to take advantage, and Larkin did just that."

Cory Motz (1-3) started and took the loss for the Hawks after allowing three earned runs on four hits in three innings. Mutter (2-for-4, RBI) and Farina (2-for-4) led Bartlett at the plate.

Villafane finished 2-for-4 with three RBI to pace the offensive attack for Larkin, which had eight players record a hit. Kyle Newquist also went 2-for-4 and Trevor Whitehead, Drew Shore and Pete Lennard all had an RBI.

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