Metea Valley hits hard, and often, at Larkin

Metea Valley made sure in the first inning that Larkin had absolutely no chance to win.

Scoring 10 runs during their first at bats, the visiting Mustangs romped to a 13-1 over the hosts Royals in an Upstate Eight Conference crossover game shortened to five innings because of the 10-run rule.

"We have that one bad inning that seems to cost us every game," said Larkin coach Ann Vogt. "We can't get away from that. They have a great hitting team, but we played well after the first inning. We swung the bats and got runners on base. We didn't get enough clutch hits."

The Mustangs (3-0) certainly brought their hitting shoes from Aurora to Elgin Wednesday afternoon. In the pivotal first inning, Megan Arcivar blasted a 3-run homer, Alise Perna ripped a 2-RBI double and Sydney Bajusz and Fran Senese collected run-scoring singles off losing pitcher Sarah Hansen.

Larkin (2-5), which benefited from 3 walks from Jenna Hall, came back with a run in the first on a bases-loaded walk to Rachel Martinez. Samantha Wahl led off with a walk and scored on Martinez's base on balls.

The Royals, who had base runners in all 5 innings, stranded 9 for the game. Metea Valley, which collected 10 hits, scored 3 in the fourth on RBI singles by Lisa Harrington and Perna. The leadoff hitter, Perna led the Mustangs' offensive assault with 3 hits and 3 RBI. Archivar, who ripped the first inning homer, reached base 3 times.

Hall pitched out of jams in all 5 innings she was in the pitcher's circle, struck out 9 and walked 4 in earning the win. She allowed the lone run on 6 singles.

Larkin had a golden opportunity to score in the fifth. Alexandria Bednarski, pinch hitter Maria Rojo and Harrington all singled to load the bases, but Hall buckled down and induced Larkin's No. 3 hitter, Sophia Young, to pop up to second base to get out of the inning unscathed.

"We came out aggressively and swung the bats," said Metea Valley coach Kris Kalivas. "Our pitch selection was good and I like the way we executed our bunts and sacrifices. Jenna struggled at times, but she did a good job of getting out of jams when she needed to."

Rebekah Harrington paced the Royals with 2 hits.