Westminster gains 'sloppy' win; Larkin downs Sabres
Defense took a sabbatical as the teams combined for 13 errors, with Westminster Christian coming away with a 12-10 nonconference baseball win at Hampshire Thursday.
The Whip-Purs (5-5) committed 9 miscuses in the game.
The Warriors rallied from a 7-1 deficit through three innings to improve to 5-3, thanks to productive days at the plate by Joe McGannon (5 RBI) and Steve Berglund (2-for-4, 2B, 4 RBI). McGannon singled home the winning runs in the top of the seventh.
"It was a sloppy game, but a good game to win," Westminster coach Jeff Moeller said.
Westminster scored 6 runs against losing pitcher Bo Price (0-1), though none were earned. Matt Kuefner and James Goebbert doubled for the Whips.
Larkin 3, Streamwood 1: Luc Geier (2-1) threw a complete-game, 4-hitter and struck out 5 without a walk to lead the host Royals to victory in the Upstate Eight Conference opener for both teams. Justin Kalusa, Joe Stace and Jon Meidel each went 2-for-3 to lead Larkin (5-6, 1-0).
East Aurora 4, South Elgin 3: The Storm outhit the Tomcats 10-2 but committed 5 errors in the Upstate Eight Conference opener in Aurora. South Elgin (3-5, 0-1) trailed 3-0 but scored once in the sixth and twice in the seventh to tie it. However, East Aurora starting pitcher Dan Okapal singled home the wining run in the bottom of the seventh to win it.
"Okapal is the best pitcher we've faced this year, but we still pounded out 10 hits even though he struck out 7," South Elgin coach Jim Kating said. "I'm happy we came back and scrapped, but if we make 5 errors, we're going to lose."
South Elgin starting pitcher Ben Irving (0-1) allowed only 3 hits in 6 innings, struck out 3 and walked 2. Jake Toppel and Chris Ciccone each went 2-for-4 for the Storm.
Crystal Lake South 6, Harlem 0: Senior Tyler Pliner pitched a complete-game 3-hitter and the Gators scored twice in the second inning and 4 times in the sixth to win a nonconference game in Crystal Lake. Junior catcher Greg Pagnotta doubled for the Gators (6-4).
Barrington 4, Cary-Grove 3: The host Broncos rallied for 3 runs in the bottom of the sixth to hand Trojans pitcher Sean Kaveney (2-1) his first loss of the season despite 61/3 strong innings in which he struck out 6. Eric Chandler staked Cary-Grove (6-4-1) to a 2-0 lead with a 2-run home run in the first inning.
West Chicago 4, Jacobs 3: Jacobs scored in each of the first three innings but couldn't hold on for the nonconference road win against the Wildcats. Ben Albano went 2-for-4 with a solo home run for the Golden Eagles (6-7).