Larkin takes 2 of 3 from Elgin
Each team broke a long losing streak in the first two games of the crosstown series.
Thursday night’s final game of the series was all about bragging rights. And those go to Larkin.
Miguel Villafane homered and drove in 4 runs and the Royals scored 3 times in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead as Larkin defeated rival Elgin, 9-6, at Trout Park.
“It’s fantastic,” said winning pitcher Drew Shore, who threw 5 innings of relief.
The Maroons (3-27-1, 3-20-1 Upstate Eight) won the series opener Tuesday to break a 20-game losing streak. The Royals (11-21, 5-18) won the final two games with Wednesday’s victory ending a 12-game slide and head into the postseason on a positive note.
“It feels good,” Villafane said about the two-game win streak. “We need that momentum to hopefully get a run in regionals.”
Shaquille Hayes led off the top of the first with a home run to left field and Elgin added another on a Gage Teschner run-scoring single for a 2-0 lead.
Villafane quickly erased the deficit with a 3-run home run down the left-field line.
Elgin regained the lead in the second. Ryan Walker doubled and scored on a wild pitch. Jake Bartelt singled to make it 4-3, bringing home Hayes, who went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, 4 runs and 3 stolen bases. “(Hayes) was really fired up after (Wednesday’s) game,” Elgin coach David Foerster said. “He wanted to make a difference in this baseball game. And he did.”
The Royals tied the game at 4-4 in the third on a run-scoring single from Villafane. Elgin regained the lead in the top of the fourth as Hayes, who reached on an error, scored on a Bartelt single. Bartelt was 3-for-4 as he and Hayes combined for 6 of the Maroons’ 9 hits.
Larkin took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth, scoring 3 runs and sending 9 batters to the plate. Cody Wahl, Jack Eckholm and Pete Lennard had consecutive one-out singles to load the bases. Trevor Whitehead was hit in the head on a slow curveball from Elgin starter Alex Doty to bring in a run. After a strikeout, Victor Saldana drove in a pair of runs with a single up the middle that was knocked down by Elgin shortstop Lee Jackson, but was unable to keep Eckholm and Lennard from scoring as the Royals took a 7-5 lead.
“Finally our offensive approach is where we want it to be,” Larkin coach Matt Esterino said. “It came down to our seniors really stepping up at the plate. Victor, Miguel and Trevor all had big two-out hits.”
Larkin added a pair of runs in the fifth on a safety squeeze from Lennard and an infield run-scoring single from Whitehead for a 9-5 lead.
Hayes doubled and scored in the sixth to make it 9-6. In the seventh, Shore got the first two Elgin batters out before hitting the next batters Andrew Higdon pinch hit for the Maroons and lined a shot to left. Eckholm made a diving catch for the final out.
“We want to win every series, but we want to be playing our best ball come Monday,” Foerster said about next week’s postseason. “I think overall in these three games we’ve made steps toward that.”
Shore picked up the victory after relieving Wahl, who went 2 innings and gave up 4 runs. Shore (2-5) allowed 3 hits and 2 runs in 5 innings.
Doty (1-5) suffered the loss. The right-hander went 5 innings, allowing 10 hits and 9 runs (6 earned).