Softball: Larkin's offensive surge continues with big win over Elgin
The Larkin Royals' softball team has been on quite an offensive tear of late, and the streak continued Thursday.
The Royals plated 12 runs in the first inning and went on to defeat Elgin, 21-0, in 4 innings.
The Upstate Eight Conference win at Elgin marked the Royals' fifth straight game with at least 19 runs, according to coach Anne Vogt, herself one of the best hitters and players in Larkin history.
One of the offensive catalysts has been catcher Bayleigh Johnson. Thursday she slugged 4 hits, finishing a home run short of the cycle, and drove in 5 runs, pushing her batting average above .700.
"It's been like that the past two games, I think," said Johnson of the near-cycle. "We're getting close, though. We'll get it eventually."
Kathy Garcia had 3 hits, scored 4 times and drove in 4 runs for Larkin (7-6). Morgan Miller had 2 hits in the first inning and scored 3 times. Camila Alonzo, the number 9 hitter, had 3 hits, scored 3 times, and drove in 2.
It can be hard to stay focused when leading 12-0 after one inning.
"In the dugout it got a little hard toward the end," Johnson said. "But we have good senior captains that keep us in check most of the time. One of them is Kaitlin Turner. She'll get on the girls in the dugout."
"They're determined," Vogt said of her team. "We had some goals all week. We wanted to win five in a row. Today we came in saying we want to score 10 runs in the first inning."
The Royals exceeded that goal, scoring 12 times. The first five Larkin batters reached safely. The Royals pounded 10 hits in the inning, took advantage of 3 Elgin errors, and stole 6 bases. Johnson had an RBI single and a triple in the first inning. Winning pitcher Chelsea Herrick had an RBI single and scored twice.
The Maroons recorded their only baserunners of the game when Nyoni Anderson and Sabrina Moskow singled in the second inning, giving Elgin runners on first and second with one out. But Herrick got a pop out and a strikeout to get out of the inning.
Herrick recorded just 3 strikeouts but had no walks in 4 innings.