Mother Nature wins in Bartlett-Elgin matchup

The Elgin baseball players laced up their cleats and took to the field for the first time Thursday following seven canceled games due to bad weather.

"It was a great feeling to be out there again," said Elgin starting pitcher Tom Roth, who got the belated Opening Day nod against visiting Bartlett in an Upstate Eight Conference matchup.

However, Elgin's enthusiasm was soon tempered by evident rust and hard-throwing Bartlett lefty Mike Derby.

The Maroons committed 7 errors behind Roth and struggled at the plate against the Bradley-bound Derby, who looked sharp in striking out five Maroons in 3 innings before bad weather struck yet again. A lightning bolt and steady rain halted the game with Bartlett leading 11-2.

The suspended game will be resumed today in Bartlett, light and weather permitting, after the regularly scheduled game is played at 4:30 p.m.

Pitching in front of a White Sox scout, Derby struck out 5 and registered 88 miles per hour on the radar gun.

"I felt pretty good, but I still think my mechanics are a little weird because it's the second game of the year," said Derby, who defeated Palatine on Saturday. "I have to get used to that, but overall I felt pretty good for the second game. Then the rain came and everything was getting so sticky it was hard to throw."

Bartlett jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Kyle Burden reached base on Elgin's first error of the afternoon on a playable flyball to right field and stole second. One out later, Alex VanNess walked and both hitters moved up on a wild pitch from Roth.

Bartlett leadoff hitter Ryan Walker then beat out a dribbler to shortstop, scoring courtesy runner Devin Rowland for a 1-0 Bartlett lead.

Tucker Erickson subsequently lined a 1-2 Roth pitch to the wall in left, scoring a pair to stake the Hawks (1-1) to a 3-0 lead.

Bartlett took complete control with its 8-run third, a frame in which they banged out 5 hits to add to the misery of Elgin's 6 errors.

"It's a matter of making routine plays," Elgin coach David Foerster said. "They hit some balls hard off Tommy, but if we make all the plays we're supposed to make, it's not nearly… It's maybe 3 or 4 runs instead of what it ended up being. If we make the routine plays we'll be OK."