Aaron Cornell’s eighth inning single drove in Elvin Rodriguez as the Hays Larks edge the El Dorado Broncos 5-4 in their series opener Friday night at Larks Park. Rodriguez led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch. The victory improves the Larks to 15-8 and 9-8 in the Jayhawk League where they move back within a game of first place following Liberal’s 5-3 loss at home to Haysville.

El Dorado scored three in the first on a three-run homer off of Larks starter Joey Begel, who settled down and didn’t allow another run over the next five innings. Begel went six innings allowing six hits while striking out two and walking four.

The Larks scored two in the bottom of the first on Austin Darby’s two-run double. They tied the game in the second on a Jon Ryan sac fly.

The Larks took a 4-3 lead in the fourth on a Zair Koeiman sac fly, scoring Rodriguez.

El Dorado tied the game with a run in the seventh off Larks reliever Jake McDavid.

Colton Reavis pitched a scoreless ninth for the win. Aaron Cornell had three hits Brett Lang had two hits and Elvin Rodriguez scored three runs.