Manning, Streamwood come up big

Streamwood’s Patrick Manning may not look intimidating when he strides to the plate at 5-foot-6, but he had the Larkin pitching staff cringing after his first 3 at-bats in the Sabres’ 9-5 Upstate Eight Conference victory in Elgin on Wednesday.

Batting second in the order, Manning produced 3 hits, 4 RBI and scored twice in three trips to the plate, helping Streamwood (18-2, 12-2) jump to leads of 6-0 and 9-2.

Larkin (9-11, 3-9) scored twice in the second inning and added single runs against Streamwood pitcher Blake Hunter (4-1) in the third, fifth and seventh, but it wasn’t enough to catch the Sabres.

“What we put up in the beginning got us through the game,” said Manning, who finished 3-for-5. “Everybody had a good approach today. It was a good team game.”

The Sabres attacked with 13 hits, 8 against Larkin starting pitcher Drew Shore (1-4), who gave up 8 runs in 2 innings.

Tim Cohen (1-for-4) drove in a run in the first inning to give the Sabres a lead they would never relinquish. They subsequently exploded for 5 runs in the second inning to make it 6-0, keyed by Zack Bucher’s run-scoring single and Manning’s 2-run double to the wall in right-center.

Larkin responded with a 2-run second inning. Robbie Rybakowski’s double scored a run and he was driven in by an Austin Royse single. But Streamwood kept coming.

Shore was lifted after walking 2 of the first 3 hitters he faced in the third inning, and Nate Pearson kept the line moving against reliever Quinton Babusch with a run-scoring single. Manning then delivered his third basehit to drive in a pair for a 9-2 lead hat proved too steep a hill for Larkin to climb.

“If it’s close after three innings I like our chances because we grind and find a way to get in done,” Larkin coach Matt Esterino said. “Unfortunately, you just can’t give up 6 runs in 2 innings and expect to dig yourself out of that hole.”

Hunter went the distance, allowing 5 runs (3 earned) on 8 hits. He walked two and struck out six.

Richie Gorski went 3-for-4 with a double and Pearson finished 3-for-5 with 2 runs and a run driven in for Streamwood.

Niko Morado doubled, walked, scored and drove in a run for the Royals, who will try to avoid being swept in the 3-game series when it concludes at Streamwood today at 4:30 p.m.