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Larkin overpowers rival Elgin
Updated: May 19, 2011 10:39PM
Falling behind on three separate occasions wasn’t much of a problem Thursday for Larkin, which came up with all kinds of ways to score against rival Elgin.
Timely offensive production was the key for the Royals as senior Miguel Villafane belted a three-run homer with two outs in the first before adding a two-out RBI single in the third. Victor Saldana chipped in with a two-out, two-run infield single, Pete Lennard drove in a run on a well-executed safety squeeze and Trevor Whitehead had a pair of RBI, including one that came when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
All that added up to a 9-6 Larkin victory as the Royals beat the Maroons for the second night in a row at Trout Park to take the three-game Upstate Eight Conference River Division series two games to one.
“We really focused on just putting the ball in play and letting their defense help us out,” Villafane said. “(Elgin starter Alex) Doty is a good pitcher, but we just focused on making contact.”
Shaiquelle Hayes had a big game for Elgin (3-27-1, 3-20-1), going 3-for-4 with four runs scored and three stolen bases. He led off the contest with a solo home run as the Maroons took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, but Villafane gave Larkin (11-21, 5-19) the lead with his towering three-run homer to left in the bottom of the inning.
Elgin struck for two more runs in the top of the second off Royals starter Cody Wahl, but a single tally in the third for Larkin tied the score at 4.
The Maroons took the lead one more time when Hayes scored on Jake Bartelt’s RBI single in the fourth to make the score 5-4, but the advantage was gone by the bottom of the inning.
Whitehead’s bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and Saldana’s two-run infield single on a sharp liner up the middle highlighted the three-run fourth for the Royals as they took a 7-5 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
“(Larkin) battles and I have a lot of respect for (Larkin) coach (Matt) Esterino over there and what he does,” Elgin coach Dave Foerster said. “They play hard and it’s always a challenge to play against teams like that when they just keep coming after you and coming after you.”
Elgin threatened one last time in the bottom of the seventh when Jake Meyer and Ryan Walker were both hit by a pitch with two outs to put runners at first and second. With Hayes waiting on deck, pinch-hitter Andrew Higdon stepped to the plate and hit a sharp liner to left that resulted in the game’s final out when Larkin’s Jack Eckholm made a diving catch.
The defensive gem made a winner of Drew Shore (2-6), who came on in relief and allowed only one earned run on three hits in the final five innings.
“Drew throws strikes and he’s a gamer,” Esterino said. “He’s going to grind for you, he’s going to challenge and he’s not going to walk anyone. He’s going to make them put the ball in play and our defense did a nice job behind him.”
Doty (1-5) took the loss for the Maroons after allowing six earned runs on 10 hits while striking out six and walking four in five innings. Elgin finished the game with two errors while Larkin committed three.
Bartelt went 3-for-4 with two RBI, joining Hayes as the primary offensive contributors for the Maroons.
“(Hayes) plays hard and whenever he gets on base he’s a threat to steal,” Foerster said. “He’s a good player and he’s the spark we need.”
Villafane (2-for-4, four RBI), Saldana (2-for-3, two RBI) and Eckholm (2-for-3, two runs) paced Larkin’s offensive attack.
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