Larkin is 1-9 against South Elgin since April of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Monday. The Larkin Royals will look to defend their home field against the South Elgin Storm at 4:30 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Larkin's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They blew past Streamwood 16-0. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Larkin.
Wemken Mackenzie made a splash no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and only two hits while striking out ten over four innings pitched. Mackenzie has been consistent recently: she hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive pitching appearances. Mackenzie was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with three runs, three RBI, and a triple.
In other batting news, Kenya Ventura and Herrick Ali did most of the damage at the plate: Ventura scored three runs and stole three bases while getting on base in all three of her plate appearances, while Ali went 1-for-2 with two runs, a triple, and a stolen base. Another player making a difference was Yesenia Escobar, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, South Elgin waltzed into their game on Friday with two straight wins... but they left with three. They put the hurt on the Maroons with a sharp 17-2 win. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for South Elgin considering their two-run performance the contest before.
Like Larkin, South Elgin also got a great game from a two-way player: Bri Wascher. She struck out seven batters over four innings while giving up just two earned runs off four hits (and not a single walk). Wascher was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-3 with five RBI and two runs.
In other batting news, Amber Gnutek was a standout: she scored three runs while going 3-for-4. Jenna Sheehan was another key contributor, scoring three runs while getting on base in all three of her plate appearances.
Larkin now has a winning record of 13-12. As for South Elgin, they are on a roll lately: they've won 15 of their last 18 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 18-9 record this season.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Monday. Larkin hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.8 home runs per game. However, it's not like South Elgin struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.4. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Larkin suffered a grim 10-0 defeat to South Elgin in their previous meeting back in April. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of South Elgin's Anna Kiel, who kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out 11 over five innings pitched. Now that Larkin knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
