Ganow powers Larkin past St. Edward
Larkin No. 6 hitter Dylan Ganow thought his first home run was just a popup when it left the bat.
Neither he nor anyone in attendance had any doubt about his second bomb.
Ganow, a junior who considered not coming out for baseball this spring due to a tough sophomore season at the plate, squared up a pair of 2-run home runs to lead Larkin to an 11-1 nonconference victory in five innings against visiting St. Edward Wednesday.
“I was struggling last year with the bat, but I put my mind to it and it’s turning out well so far,” said Ganow, whose homers were his first at the varsity level.
Larkin (1-1) jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning against St. Edward senior ace Luke Duffy, helped by 2 of St. Edward’s 4 errors, and added another run in the second inning on Chris Guzeman’s RBI groundout.
Leading 3-1, the Class 4A Royals blew the game open against the Class 2A Green Wave with a 5-run third-inning, keyed by Ganow’s first home run. The right-handed hitter turned on a 3-1 fastball and roped it over the left-field fence for a 6-1 Larkin lead.
That signaled the end for Duffy (0-2), who took a loss against Nazareth on Saturday. Duffy allowed 6 runs (4 earned) on 4 hits in 2 1/3 innings. He walked a pair in the first inning and struck out just one of the 15 batters he faced.
“He just didn’t have it,” first-year St. Edward coach Tim Dovichi said. “He walked two in the first inning and was never able to come back from that.”
Larkin hitters made Duffy work in the record-breaking, 87-degree March heat.
“We knew he threw Saturday, and we had good at-bats to build up his pitch count,” Larkin coach Matt Esterino said. “I think (Duffy) threw around 60 pitches the first couple of innings. Dylan even struck out his first time up, but he had an 8-pitch at-bat. Even if we didn’t have basehits, we had productive at-bats where we’re taking pitches and building up the pitch count. Then we just sat on that fastball.”
Larkin treated St. Edward reliever Austin Davis just as rudely. They added 2 unearned runs against him in the third inning for an 8-1 lead.
Brandon Avila’s RBI double gave Larkin a 9-1 lead in the fourth inning and set the stage for Ganow. He gave the Royals the 10-run cushion they needed by buggy-whipping a no-doubt-about-it, 2-run shot to left field for the final margin.
“I was way out ahead on the first pitch, so I waited back on it a little bit and drove it,” Ganow said.
Larkin received a quality first varsity start from Brayden Royse. The 6-foot-3 sophomore held the Green Wave to 1 run on 3 hits, all singles. He struck out 5 and walked 3.
“My changeup was working pretty well,” Royse said. “A lot of times I’d rely on the change when the curveball wasn’t working and it would pick me up.”
St. Edward (1-4) scored its only run against Royse in the third inning. Michael Castoro’s swinging bunt hugged the third base line for a hit and scored freshman Jake Lefrenz, who had drawn a leadoff walk.
Despite the lopsided loss to Larkin on the heels of Monday’s 9-1 loss to another Class 4A school, West Chicago, Dovichi remained confident that scheduling occasional games against large public schools will benefit his team in the long run. St. Edward will also play Streamwood and Elgin in coming weeks.
“It’ll only make us better playing better competition,” Dovichi said. “It makes you step up and makes your guys better. I like it, even if we do go out there and lose 11-1. These guys are going to see teams close to this caliber in regionals and sectionals. I’d rather they get used to it during the school year, then get after it.”