Larkin's bats heat up day

Larkin's baseball team brought the lumber to the ballyard on Saturday.

In two Upstate Eight Conference games against East Aurora, Larkin (9-11, 8-9) belted out 28 hits and scored 30 runs en route to a 12-0, 18-0 sweep of the Tomcats.

In Game 1, Justin Kalusa was perfect at the plate for the Royals, going 5-for-5 with a double, home run, and 5 RBI. Jake Kane (3-for-4) also added a double and a triple with 3 RBI while teammate Joe Stace ( 3-for-4) hit 2 home runs and collected 3 RBI. John Banks also went 2-for-2 with 3 RBI.

Banks (2-3) pitched all 5 innings in Game 1, tallying 6 strikeouts with 1 walk.

In Game 2 Ivan Bello pitched 4 innings for his first victory of the year. Bello allowed just 3 hits with 4 strikeouts and 1 walk. Reid Ellis (2-for-3, 2 RBI) and Tyler Shore (2-for-2, 4 RBI) each hit a double for Larkin.

Elgin drops 2: The Maroons (5-14, 5-13) fell to St. Charles East in an Upstate Eight twinbill, 10-0 and 12-2. In Game 1 Isaac Serna (0-4) pitched 5½ suffering the loss, allowing 8 hits with 5 walks and 3 strikeouts. Serna and Carlos Espinoza led the Maroons at the plate with 2 hits each. In Game 2 Mike Stackowiak (0-3) was on the mound pitching 5½ innings with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts. Carlos Espinoza grabbed an RBI at the plate as Elgin was only able to collect 2 hits in 6 innings of play.

Storm sweep Streamwood: South Elgin (10-8, 10-8) took two from Streamwood un Upstate Eight action as Pete Scaffidi (2-2) was on the mound in Game 1 for the win. Scaffidi pitched 5 innings allowing 5 hits with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. Kyle Daker (2-for-3) had a home run for the winners, while Kyle Kinyon (2-for-3) also collected 2 RBI with a double. In Game 2 Kyle Kinyon (1-1) pitched 5 innings with 3 strikeouts and 3 walks. Chris Cillone (3-for-4) hit a home run collecting 3 RBI for the Storm going. Phil Kawabath (2-for-3) also contributed 2 doubles to the victory.

Bartlett splits with Waubonsie Valley: The Hawks (14-7, 13-6) took Game 1 from the Warriors in UEC play. Jon Wojdula (3-0) was on the mound for 6¿ innings recording 1 walk and a strikeout to lead the Hawks to a 4-2 victory. Mike Derby had a big day at the plate collecting 3 RBI with a home run. Alex Vanness also went 1-for-3 with a double. In Game 2 Mike Selvaggi (0-2) suffered the loss pitching 3½ innings posting 2 strikeouts and allowing 7 hits. Bartlett fell to Waubonsie Valley 7-5 and was only able to complete 5 innings due to the rainy weather. Derby was able to go 2-for-3 at the dish with his second home run of the day, collecting 3 RBI and a double.

BC splits with Woodstock: Burlington Central (11-8) split with Woodstock in nonconference play. In Game 1 the Rockets came out victorious with a 13-3 win over Woodstock. George Heller (4-1) pitched all 5 innings allowing only 2 hits with 4 walks and 6 strikeouts. At the plate BC was led by Bryan Bell (3-for-4, 3 RBI), Zach Romando (3-for-3), Mark Gornez (2-for-3, 2 RBI) and Ryan Mattes, who went 1-for-2 with a home run. In Game 2 Burlington Central fell 9-8. David Hartwell suffered the loss on the mound pitching 6 innings with 3 strikeouts, 3 walks and 7 hits. Mattes led at the plate again as he hit his second home run of the day and had 3 RBI. Drew Perly also went 2-for-2 with a double and 3 walks.

Westminster sweeps Belvidere North : In two 5-inning games Westminster Christian (21-4) downed Belvidere North in nonconference action 10-9 and 13-4. Casey Schuring (3-0) snagged the win in Game 1 pitching 1¿ innings with 1 strikeout. Ben Palmer recorded the save striking out all 3 batters faced. Chad Schroy led at the plate going 2-for-3 with 3 RBI. In Game 2 the Warriors' offense picked up as Carter Ward collected 5 RBI with a home run and a double. Schuring (3-for-4, 2 RBI) and Cory Hodge (2-for-3) both contributed with hits for Westminster. Ted Grossman also had a basehit with 2 RBI. Brandon Siewert (7-0) remains undefeated on the mound after pitching all 5 innings with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts.

SCN, Lake Park split: St. Charles North and Lake Park both had reasons to think they should have swept Saturday's doubleheader in Roselle.

At the same time, they both understood why they split it.

After talented North Stars lefty Danny Jimenez gutted out a 6-5 win in the opener, Lake Park bounced back to claim a 6-3 Game 2 victory behind sophomore Kevin Miller, pitching only his second varsity game.

"It's a roller-coaster ride, mentally and emotionally," said St. Charles North coach Todd Genke. "I'm very disappointed in a split. We had too many mental mistakes today, and you just can't do that against a good team."

In Game 1, three second-inning errors pushed Lake Park (13-9, 9-7) to a 2-0 lead on Ryan Wegner's suicide squeeze bunt and on a first-and-third double steal where Mike Ostrowski stole home.

A pair of Lake Park errors helped the North Stars score 4 runs in the top of the third. Matt Stevens' 2-run single sparked the rally. K.C. Wright and Brandon Nothnagel singled home runs to give St. Charles North (14-6, 10-4) a 6-2 lead heading to the bottom of the seventh.

Then things got crazy. With the bases loaded and two out, Lake Park's Matt Kennedy blooped a 3-run double down the right-field line that the umpire ruled fair as it landed right near the foul line.

With the tying run in scoring position, Jimenez (4-1) -- who allowed no earned runs -- notched his 13th strikeout to preserve the win.

"We took it hard in the first game, we felt we should have won it," said Lancers first baseman Brian Serrano. "We made some defensive mistakes, and our coach gave us a little speech in between games. That got us ready for the second game."

In Game 2 Miller (2-0) gave up a first-inning run on Jake Thornton's RBI groundout, but he followed with three scoreless innings to allow his team to grab control at 3-1. Two runs scored on Serrano's fourth-inning single.

The Lancers moved ahead 5-2 in the fifth on run-scoring singles by Wegner and Kennedy. Ben Coleman extended the lead to 6-2 with his sixth-inning home run.

Ryan Richardson, who went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI in Game 2, pulled St. Charles North within 6-3 with an RBI double in the seventh.

"We're a much better team than how we played in the second game," Jimenez said. "We expected a sweep, and we just didn't come out prepared in the second game."

Miller struck out four, walked two and scattered 10 hits in a complete game.

"I kind of gave the guys the business a little bit after the first game," said Lancers coach Dan Colucci. "I was happy they came out and responded in Game 2."