Menken, South Elgin sweep Larkin

South Elgin's John Menken didn't hit the ball very hard Friday, but the balls he did put in play were perfectly placed.

The junior had 4 hits and drove in 3 runs as the Storm completed a two-game sweep of Larkin with a 7-4 victory in Elgin.

"That's when you know you're having a good day and the ball is finding the holes," Menken said. "You have to give credit to the guys in front of me. They were getting on and my job is easy. I just had to put it through holes."

Menken drove in Drew Buddle in the top of the first with a chopper to third for an infield single. He again brought in Buddle in the second and in the fourth with groundballs through the hole between third and shortstop. Menken's line-drive single to right field in the sixth was his hardest hit ball.

Menken's 3 RBI helped the Storm (12-4, 7-3 Upstate Eight), which has won five straight, open a 5-1 lead after four innings. South Elgin scored twice in the first, twice in the second and once in the fourth. The Storm stole five bases in the first two innings.

"We did a nice job in the first couple innings of taking advantage of some mistakes, being aggressive on the basepaths and came up with some good hits," Storm coach Jim Kating said.

Larkin (4-14, 3-7), which has lost five straight, didn't get its first hit off Nathan Halas until two outs in the third. Trevor Whitehead singled and scored on Reid Ellis' single.

The Storm added a run in the fifth to make 6-1. Larkin's Alex Wahl led off the bottom of the fifth with a home run to center. Menken scored on a Kenny Lowden double in the sixth as the Storm took a 7-2 lead.

Halas got in trouble in the seventh, allowing the first two runners to reach before being pulled for Lowden. Those two runs came in to score, both on fielder's choices, but Lowden got Justin Lewis to fly out as the tying run to end the game.

"We fought at the end, but we were just going through the motions, it felt like, the first couple of innings," Royals coach Matt Esterino said. "Against a good ballclub, that's going to come back and bite you."

Halas (2-0) picked up the win, throwing six-plus innings. The right-hander allowed 7 hits and 4 runs. He struck out four, walked one and hit a batter. Lowden and Ryan Hicks each had 2 hits for the Storm.

Ellis and Whitehead had a pair of hits for Larkin. Miguel Villifane (1-3) took the loss. He allowed 6 runs on 10 hits in five innings.