Defense lets down Elgin, White as Larkin prevails in opener
Like peanut butter and jelly or bread and butter, Clay White and hard luck seem inexorably attached.
The Elgin pitcher entered Tuesday's opener of the annual 3-game, Upstate Eight River series against crosstown rival Larkin at Trout Park with an ERA of 0.88 in 24 innings and a nonreflective 1-3 record, including a 1-0 loss to Crystal Lake South (13-2).
Larkin defeated Elgin 7-4, though White outpitched winning pitcher Will King of Larkin from a statistical standpoint by allowing 3 earned runs in 7 innings to King's 4 runs in 5⅔. Both set career highs in strikeouts. King had 11, White 10.
However, the Elgin defense committed 4 errors behind White (1-4), including 3 throwing errors that led to 3 unearned runs in Larkin's 4-run first inning. The Royals' lone error didn't hurt.
"I'm just disappointed. That first inning killed us," White said. "Mental errors. Jitters, I guess, with the first game under the lights."
The wind died down during the course of the game, but it was gusting up to 45 mph with temperatures hovering in the upper forties when Larkin leadoff man Zach Edgar reached on an Elgin throwing error to open the night game, which began at 6 p.m.
Edgar later stole third base and was able to score the first run when the throw from Elgin's catcher sailed into left field for the inning's second error.
"We're just trying to be aggressive and it worked out our way," Edgar said.
Later in the inning, Larkin (5-9, 2-5) stole 2 bases and scored twice on the same play. Larkin's Andrew Chmiola stole second base with teammate Jon Lenz on third. Elgin's shortstop cut off the throw to second and threw home but not in time to get the sliding Lenz. Meanwhile, Chmiola took off for third. The Elgin catcher attempted to throw him out, but that throw, too, sailed into the outfield, allowing the Royals to take a 4-0 lead.
"I mean, we had them out by 15 feet," Elgin coach David Foerster said. "If we make the throws, it's an easy inning for us. They gave us opportunities for easy outs and we just didn't capitalize."
Being aggressive on the basepaths and forcing the defense to make plays is Larkin's strategy.
"We respect them and we know their catcher has a good arm, but we know we're not going to sit back and rap out 20 hits," Larkin coach Matt Esterino said. "We have to be aggressive. It's just part of who we are and how we have to score. And it worked out well."
Elgin (6-11, 2-5) got a run back in the bottom of the first inning when White led off with a triple and scored on Dean Anderson's sharp single.
The Maroons tallied again in the second. Andrew Hardt doubled with one out, advanced on Eddy Ramos' infield single and scored on White's sacrifice fly.
However, Larkin restored its lead to 4 runs in the top of the third when senior first baseman Tanner Gardon launched the first pitch of his second at-bat into the jet stream for a wind-aided home run that glanced off a parked car beyond the right-field fence.
"It was a fastball outside. He was working it good to our hitters," Gardon said of White. "It was our second time through (the batting order) so I just went up there thinking fastball. I got it and I jumped on it."
Elgin didn't go quietly. The Maroons scored twice in the sixth on singles by Brandon Stork and Ramos to cut it to 7-4. However, Jon Lenz relieved King and got out of a bases-loaded jam by inducing a groundout to second base off the bat of Anderson.
The save was the first of the season for Lenz, who struck out 2 and issued a walk in 1⅓ innings. King (2-2) allowed 4 earned runs on 9 hits and a walk to go with his 11 strikeouts.
"Off speed was working really well," King said. "The wind was moving it and they were just missing it all night. And my defense picked me up when they put it in play. And 7 runs? That's as much as I can ask for."
The teams resume the series at Trout Park on Wednesday at 6 p.m.