It takes 8, but Larkin completes sweep of Elgin

Even though Larkin pitcher Tanner Gardon wished to finish a second-straight 6-3 victory over Elgin to cap a 3-game sweep at Trout Park Thursday, the senior knew to trust his teammates in the seventh and eighth innings to pick up the win that coach Matt Esterino said Gardon ultimately deserved.

It's a good thing Gardon has reliable teammates.

Gardon was busy keeping the Maroons scoreless through 4 innings unlike Games 1 and 2 of the series when Gardon was blasting fly balls over the fence.

But when Gardon was chased in the seventh with one out after Elgin rallied to tie the game at 3-3 on Dean Anderson's RBI single, Nick Filmore in relief induced an inning-ending double play. The Royals carried the momentum in the eighth and final inning, tacking on 3 in the top half, including a go-ahead RBI double by Andrew Chimola, who scored Jon Lenz after Lenz reached on an error on a fly ball near the track in right field to start the frame.

"I knew the heart he has, I just knew he was going to come through for us," Gardon said of Chimola. "He got the hit and we just rolled from there."

Thus proving Gardon's trust was in the right place. Chimola (2-for-4, RBI) felt responsible for Gardon's no-decision, and looked to redeem himself from an error that set up Elgin's seventh-inning magic.

"I was just trying to put the ball in play with (Lenz) on third, get the run in, pick myself up from the error," Chimola said. "I told them I wanted to get the run in since I gave them the game there and let them tie it."

Chimola came home thanks to a double from Filmore (1-2), who was 3-for-4 at the plate while notching his first win of the season with 1 hit allowed in 1 ⅔ innings in Larkin's first sweep of Elgin (6-13, 2-7) since 2009.

"It was one of those games where you get a break and bust it open," Esterino said. "To be honest, we tip our cap to (Elgin). They played hard. We always know it's going to be a series. Every year it's close so we tip our cap to them. It was a good ballgame."

Unfortunately for the Maroons, the recurring theme of untimely errors reared its ugly head again. Elgin had 3 errors, including 2 in the eighth.

"We just didn't make enough routine plays and that's going to hurt every single time," Elgin coach David Foerster said. "All three games."

But there was more fight out of Elgin the final time around after Larkin (7-9, 4-5) picked up 3 runs in the third. The Maroons tacked on single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh, which ended Gardon's day without the win. Gardon, who lost his curveball in the fourth, pounded the zone with two-seamers the rest of the way and was charged with 5 hits, 3 runs (2 earned) and he had 4 strikeouts. He was noticeably out of rhythm come the sixth and seventh innings after 108 pitches thrown that included 9 groundouts to 6 flyouts.

"He was able to bear down for the most part and throw strikes," Esterino said. "He got tired late, that's why we went to Nick, but he gave us everything we needed. Even though he didn't get the win, he earned it."

A wild pitch scored Elgin's first run in the fifth, followed by a sacrifice fly from Brandon Stork in the sixth. Clay White doubled his way on in the seventh and Anderson's single to right that scored White gave the Maroons new life.

"That's what I expect, I would hope that's how we play. Just fight every inning hard and do the best that we can," Foerster said.

Not forgotten was John Nelson's day. Although he was tagged with 4 earned runs and 11 hits, he struck out 7, walked 1 and threw 74 of his 98 total pitches for strikes to keep Elgin alive. Nelson (0-4) could have had the win but Fillmore rolled Jack Koeckritz into an inning-ending a 4-6-3 double play.

"It just seems like we're one hit short every few innings. We get guys on and we can't get that run," Foerster said. "We've got to find a way to fix that."