ELGIN -- Not much separated Elgin and Larkin on Wednesday, but the Royals once again proved to be a cut above the winless Maroons.
Whether it was starting pitcher Brian Fahey working out of a pair of jams early on, Zach Fluhler executing a squeeze bunt or reliever Brandon Anderson fending off a late Elgin comeback, Larkin did all the little things necessary to earn a 5-3 Upstate Eight Conference win.
The visiting Royals (7-7, 3-1) completed a two-game series sweep with the victory and have now beaten the Maroons (0-7, 0-4) five times in six meetings over the past three seasons.
"(Elgin) definitely came to play and to be honest I think that's kind of what we expected," Larkin coach Matt Esterino said. "We definitely made the plays when we had to."
Larkin built a 4-0 lead by the fourth inning thanks to some timely execution.
The Royals pushed across their first run in the first inning when Jon Meidel singled with two outs, stole second and scored on Luc Geier's RBI single. The advantage grew to 3-0 in the second when Joe Stace and Justin Lewis crossed the plate after Elgin left fielder Dan Schmerber couldn't corral Alex Wahl's fly ball to deep left center.
In the fourth, Lewis drew a leadoff walk and moved to third on a pair of wild pitches. Fluhler then executed on a squeeze play with one out to bring home Lewis.
While Larkin was busy coming through in the clutch, Elgin was having all kinds of trouble delivering with runners in scoring position early.
The Maroons loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the first before Fahey struck out three straight batters to get out of the jam. Elgin had runners at first and second with one out in the third before Fahey struck again, fanning two straight batters to end the inning.
"I guess I just had trouble finding the strike zone more than usual, but when I needed to I found it," Fahey said.
The Maroons started climbing back when Cody Thomas scored on Casey Knaak's sacrifice fly in the fourth.
Elgin pulled within 4-3 in the fifth when Mike Stackowiak drove in two runs with a bases-loaded blast to right field off Royals reliever Brandon Anderson. However, Stackowiak was thrown out at second trying to leg out a double, ending the threat.
Larkin eventually added an insurance run in the seventh when Stace drove in Reid Ellis on a fielder's choice. However, that run proved unnecessary as Anderson thwarted any hope of an Elgin comeback by retiring six batters in a row over the final two innings.
"We had to jump back as a team, get back at it and sweep Elgin," Anderson said.
Fahey (2-0) struck out six, walked three and allowed one unearned run on three hits in four innings to notch the win. Geier went 2-for-3 and Lewis reached base in all three at-bats and scored two runs to pace Larkin's offense.
Knaak (0-3) took the loss after allowing three earned runs on seven hits while striking out four and walking six in 6 1/3 innings. Stackowiak went 2-for-3 at the plate for Elgin, which has been held to three runs or fewer in each of its past six games.
"The big thing is just putting the ball in play, and as we've played some games now that shouldn't be an issue," Elgin coach Dave Foerster said. "That's something we've got to fix.
"I have confidence in them and they are a good group of kids, but we have to find a way to change that and score some runs."
Close
Community Login
You've successfully logged in to the Sun-Times Media Community, click the close button to return to browsing.
Facebook App
Font Size
Email
Bookmark
Black Text
Cell Phone Alerts