Baseball: St. Edward, Mandarino mow down Larkin

St. Edward senior pitcher Joey Mandarino made it a successful homecoming for his new coach at Larkin Friday.

The right-hander used a mix of fastballs, curveballs and change-ups to handcuff the Royals on 4 hits in a 10-0, six-inning nonconference victory.

The three-year varsity player issued no walks and struck out six, including the last batter of the game, caught looking at an outside fastball on the black.

"I felt like I really had good control and being able to change up the speed helped a lot," said Mandarino (1-0).

The decisive victory made for a happy return for first-year St. Edward coach Mike Rolando, a 1991 Larkin graduate who played football and baseball. He pitched out of the bullpen for the '91 Royals, the only team in program history to qualify for the state finals.

Rolando has been St. Edward's football coach for the last 14 seasons. He also spent three seasons as the school's softball coach and coached against Larkin at the Elgin Sports Complex.

Friday was the first time Rolando coached a game on Larkin soil.

"It's fun coming back here," he said. "I see the Royal uniforms and I've still got some blue blood in me. I used to sit in that dugout. I used to warm up in that bullpen. I have such fond memories of being here and playing here. We had a great team. I had a fun career."

Senior Max Anderson, who hit .356 last year, singled twice for Larkin (0-8), which had to replace eight graduated position players from a 9-win team. The Royals did not have an extra-base hit and committed 5 errors behind junior starting pitcher Tayshon Erdman and senior reliever Kevin Duffy.

"Mentally, we just have to stay a little more focused, a little more in the game pitch by pitch and break the game down," said first-year Larkin coach Niko Morado, who, like Rolando, played baseball for the Royals before he graduated in 2013. "We need to focus on the small victories: winning an at-bat, then winning two or three at-bats and that's going to turn into a productive inning. Right now, it's about trying to get a better mental approach."

St. Edward (2-7) split 4 games this week following an 0-5 start to the season. Drew Tilche pitched 7 strong innings Monday in a 5-1 over Bishop McNamara.

Jack Olson sparked the Green Wave offense against Larkin with a 2-run single that keyed a 3-run rally, part of a 9-hit effort.

"It was like our whole team switched offensively," said Olson, a four-year varsity performer who will play for Elgin Community College. "We're playing like a team now and we're getting our pitchers runs."

The St. Edward attack was paced by Mike Lopez (2-for-3, 2 runs) and Jeff Mamrot, who went 2-for-3 with a double and 3 RBI.