Elgin takes Game 3 from Larkin
Neither a doubleheader loss on Saturday nor a slow start on Monday was going to deter Elgin from salvaging the final game of a 3-game series against crosstown rival Larkin.
The Maroons rallied from a 3-0 deficit for a 5-3 win at Trout Park on Monday in an Upstate Eight Conference River Division contest.
After surrendering 3 runs in the first inning, Elgin starter Clay White (3-1) settled down to blank the Royals the rest of the way to pick up the win. The Maroons (7-12, 5-11) scored 3 runs in the fourth inning to tie the game and then 2 more in the fifth inning to take the lead.
“We needed this,” Elgin coach David Foerster said. “Our character was tested with the losses on Saturday and then the slow start today. But we kept our composure and battled through it.”
With the score tied at 3-3 and one out in the fifth inning White reached on an infield single and took second on a throwing error. After a walk to Ryan Sitter, cleanup hitter Kiko Mari laced an RBI double the opposite way to the left-center field gap off Larkin starter Tanner Gardon to put the Maroons ahead 4-3. Jack Koeckritz followed with a sacrifice fly for an insurance run.
“(Gardon) is 6-6, so the first time facing him the ball kind of sneaks up on you,” Mari said. “The next time up I focused on his arm angle. I got a fastball and slapped it the other way. I just kept my weight back and kept the ball in front of me.”
The Maroons had tied the game in the fourth inning with an RBI single from Matt Karinski and a 2-run single from Tom Sobeski.
“I was a little disappointed with our approach at the plate on Saturday,” Foerster said. “It was much better today. We had some real good at-bats.”
After giving up 3 runs in the first inning White was on the ropes again in the second inning when the first two Royals' batters reached. However, the junior right-hander worked out of the jam by striking out the next 2 batters and getting the final out on an infield pop fly.
White surrendered just 3 hits the rest of the way and finished with 10 strikeouts.
He left the tying runs stranded at first and second base in the sixth inning by striking out leadoff batter Tyler Kalusa to end the inning.
“I was just trying to keep the ball down and throw strikes,” White said. “We really wanted to come back and beat them today.”
Dan Lenz had a 2-run single in the first inning for the Royals (8-13, 4-9).
Gardon (0-2) took the loss on the mound. He went 5 innings and surrendered all 5 runs.
“I think we got way too comfortable after that first inning,” Larkin coach Matt Esterino said. “We had a chance to really put the pressure on when we got the first two runners on in the second inning and we just didn't execute. I thought that was a key part of the game. We just didn't do enough of the fundamentals.”