Wrap: Burke, Whips knock off BC; SCN tops Larkin

Rivalries like the one between Hampshire and Burlington Central don't stay hot unless each side takes turns stoking the fire.

So far this school year, the boys from Burlington Central had been fanning the flames unilaterally.

Central beat the Whip-Purs 18-7 on the football field last fall and swept a pair of 2-1 soccer matches.

Over the winter the Rockets sent Hampshire's boys basketball team to defeat twice, by 22 and 19 points, respectively.

"When they beat us in one sport we want to come back in the next sport and beat them," Hampshire catcher Tyler Bentley said. "It's always been that way ever since we've played Burlington. That's what I like about being rivals."

Bentley had the best view in the house when Hampshire pitcher Ryan Burke caught fire Monday afternoon.

The right-handed sophomore retired the last 15 Rockets he faced to complete a 1-0, 2-hit shutout of Burlington Central in a Big Northern East affair in Pingree Grove.

The win was Hampshire's fifth in six games, evening its record at 7-7, 2-1 in the BN-East.

In 19¿ innings this season, Burke has allowed 2 earned runs on 15 hits with 4 walks and 18 strikeouts. Monday he finished with 8 strikeouts and 1 walk.

"I had good location," Burke said. "I kept the fastball in on their hands and when they were looking for it, I dropped the curveball in there."

It was a combination that kept the Rockets guessing.

"We just couldn't put the ball in play," said Central's Drew Perly, who notched both hits for his team, one a dribbler on the infield. "(Burke) was throwing a lot of fastballs and we knew fastballs were coming. We just couldn't hit it."

Burke (2-1) out-dueled Central junior Bill Rodriguez (1-1), who held Hampshire to 3 hits but absorbed the tough luck loss. The Rockets (8-6, 2-1) played errorless defense behind him.

"I told them in the postgame that if we get that kind of pitching and defense every game, we're going to win a lot of ballgames," Central coach Kyle Nelson said. " You don't go into a game thinking if you give up 1 run you're going to lose it, but give Burke credit. He threw a great ballgame.

"We weren't patient enough to let the ball travel deep in the zone. We got in front and hit a lot of weak groundballs."

Hampshire scored the only run of the game in the fourth inning. Burke led off with a line-drive double just out of the reach of leaping center fielder Ryan Mattes, moved to third on a groundball by Zach Crinigan and scored on Matt Kuefner's groundout to the second baseman.

St. Charles North 7, Larkin 0: Zach Hirsch is a no-nonsense kind of pitcher -- and he proved that Monday against Larkin.

The junior lefty on the St. Charles North baseball team only needed an hour and 20 minutes against Upstate Eight Conference opponent Larkin to walk away with his second win of the year.

In the North Stars' 7-0 win against the Royals, Hirsch fanned nine and allowed 5 hits and no walks in a complete game shutout in St. Charles.

"I like to work quick," said Hirsch, who improved to 2-2 on the season.

"He's such a competitor," St. Charles North coach Todd Genke added of Hirsch. "It's just so fun to watch him pitch. When he has the ball in his hands, he's coming right at you … he was in complete control today. It was a dominating performance (from) one of the better players in our conference, that's for sure."

"We faced him last year, and I don't know if we scored a run, and if we face him next year, I don't know if we are going to score a run," Larkin coach Doug Ellett said of Hirsch. "He's a good pitcher, and we had a couple of opportunities, but he doesn't give you many opportunities."

Hirsch had solid hitting behind him at the plate, as the North Stars (9-4, 6-1) finished with 9 hits, including 3 in the third, led by a pair of doubles from Brandon Nothnagel and Sam Weinberg.

Leadoff man Justin Kalusa posted 3 of the Royals' 5 total hits. He used a pair of bunts and a single in the sixth but could get no closer than third to scoring for Larkin (6-8, 5-6).

"(Kalusa) figured out how to bunt the ball -- he's a really good bunter -- and he got the third hit because (St. Charles North's defense) was moved in, thinking he was going to bunt," Ellett said. "We have to play some small ball like that."

-- Christine Bolin