Baseball: Larson, St. Charles North handcuff South Elgin

Erik Larson was the epitome of a crafty southpaw for the St. Charles North baseball team on Monday afternoon.

Throwing strikes with regularity, Larson needed a mere 80 pitches to author a 6-1 complete-game victory over South Elgin in an Upstate Eight Conference crossover in St. Charles.

"We talk about 67 percent (of pitches for strikes) being a winning formula," St. Charles North coach Todd Genke said. "(Larson) was like the perfect tonic. He was phenomenal. I think he missed two spots all day."

Nearly three-fourths of the Larson first-pitch offerings went for strikes as the North Stars remained unbeaten against in-state competition in improving to 10-1 overall, 6-0 in the league.

"I noticed at the beginning of the game they weren't squaring the ball up much," said Larson, who is 2-0 as a starter. "If I can get ahead in the count, I can throw more off-speed."

St. Charles North provided Larson all the runs he would need in its half of the first.

South Elgin starter Joe Teschke deserved a better fate.

Pat Bellock, aboard after a one-out single, motored around the bases on a three-base throwing error.

Teschke was soon in a 2-0 hole when Steven Hamer followed with a single.

"We didn't come out sharp," said South Elgin coach Jim Kating. "We took a sloppy infield (pregame), and it carried over. St. Charles North put a lot of balls in play. We have to make those plays."

After Thomas Nelsen scored on the Hamer single, the North Stars' Justin Dunne hit a shot - into the teeth of the wind - to complete the 3-run first.

"I just tried to hit it hard," Dunne said of his run-scoring double. "We always want to score first. That's like our motto."

South Elgin (2-3, 0-1) was never able to get on track against Larson, who supplemented his off-speed pitches with precision fastballs.

Larson lost his chance at a shutout in the Storm third; Austin Doty plated Pat Keaty after the latter reached second on a muffed fly.

But St. Charles North padded its lead back to 5-1 in the bottom of the third as Egon Hein and Sean Nemetz were credited with RBI.

"I love the run support," Larson said. "We're getting better offensively."

Larson scattered 4 singles on the afternoon; Storm junior Ben Hetelle drew the lone bases on balls.

"(Larson) is not going to strike out a lot of guys," Genke said. "He's a pitch-to-contact guy."

St. Charles North finished with 8 hits.

The North Stars open a critical three-game River series with Batavia on Tuesday.