Geier. Larkin get best of Roth, Elgin

It took until his senior year of high school, but Larkin senior pitcher Luc Geier finally notched a head-to-head victory over his good friend and Tuesday's mound opponent, Elgin senior Tom Roth.

On a cold day on Elgin's west side, Geier stymied the winless Maroons with a complete-game 4-hitter, and the Royals collected 12 hits to earn a 6-1 victory in the Upstate Eight Conference.

"That's my first win against Tommy going back to Little League and everything," Geier said. "I was 0-6 before today, so I've been looking forward to this game."

Geier said his curveball and cutter weren't working in the cold conditions, so he relied on the fastball and changeup to keep Elgin (0-6, 0-3) off balance. He struck out 6 Maroons, including the final hitter he faced with the bases loaded in the top of the seventh.

"He's been really consistent all year," Larkin coach Matt Esterino said of Geier, who improved his record to 3-1 in a 93-pitch performance. "He wants the baseball and he threw well. The plan wasn't for him to go all 7, but he had a pretty low pitch count going into the seventh. He's been doing a great job for us. He pounds the strike zone is the main thing, and he let the defense play behind him. It worked out today."

Larkin (6-7, 2-1) enjoyed success at the plate by taking an aggressive approach against Roth, who was replaced after 4 innings due to arm soreness. Jon Meidel went 3-for-3 with a walk and 2 runs scored, Scott Harm finished 2-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBI and second baseman Joe Stace went 2-for-4 and drove in a pair.

Larkin took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Stace's RBI single up the middle that scored Harm from second base.

Elgin drew even in the third inning. Lee Jackson led off with a single, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored easily on Roth's opposite-field double to right. However, Elgin committed 4 errors in the field on makable plays, including 2 errors in the bottom of the third that led to a 2-run inning for the Royals.

"For us to be successful, the routine plays - you've got to make them," Elgin coach David Foerster said. " We have to throw strikes and have timely hits here and there. I thought Tommy pitched well enough for us to win. He battled, but he threw far too many pitches (85) because he had to. We made a lot of mistakes behind him. When you don't make the routine plays you're going to be in trouble."

With runners at second and third, Geier's infield single to the hole between third and shortstop scored Reid Ellis for an unearned run. Harm followed with a single off Roth's glove, scoring Meidel.

The Royals added another unearned run in the fifth against Elgin reliever Mike Stackowiak and scored twice more in the sixth, when run-scoring basehits by Harm and Stace made it 6-1 in Larkin's favor.

The teams will complete the 2-game series today at Elgin at 4:30 p.m. Left-handed senior Casey Knaak is expected to pitch for the host Maroons against Larkin senior Brian Fahey.

"It's huge for us," Foerster said of the rematch. "We haven't played our best ball yet."

Larkin 6, Elgin 1

Elgin 001 000 0 -1-4-4

Larkin 012 012 x -6-12-1

2B: E: Roth

WP: Geier (3-1) LP: Roth (0-1).