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Larkin lets Rockford East run away late

DeKALB - Larkin's baseball team had everything going its way Thursday in its Class 4A DeKalb regional semifinal against Rockford East.

Then the roof - and the season - caved in on the Royals.

Trailing Larkin 3-2 after the top of the fourth, the second-seeded E-Rabs regained the lead with 2 runs, then they hit the Royals with a 9-spot in the bottom of the sixth to cap off a 13-3 win.

Rockford East (14-15) will take on top seed DeKalb at 11 a.m. Saturday for the regional title. Larkin finished the season 10-23.

"We thought we had seized the momentum there in the middle innings but we didn't execute on the basepaths," said Larkin coach Matt Esterino. "We ran ourselves out of an inning and then the wheels kind of came off, but we stayed together. Nobody was chirping and the nine seniors on this team were huge for us. They showed the younger kids how hard you need to work to be competitive in our conference. They set a great example."

After spotting the E-Rabs a 2-0 lead in the first, Larkin came back to take a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth.

Andrew Chmiola had a 2-run double for the Royals that scored Jon Lenz and Tanner Gardon, each of whom had singled. Chmiola, who went to third on a passed ball, then stole home to give the Royals a 3-2 lead.

But Rockford East came back with 2 runs in its half of the inning to take the lead for good. Zeke Termini's RBI single drove in the go-ahead run for the E-Rabs.

The sixth inning, and the game, simply got away from Larkin like a runaway train. Jordan Lee had a big 2-run single in the inning and Larkin committed 2 of its 4 errors in the game to help the E-Rabs pull away.

The Royals managed just 6 hits off East's Nick Enna and Jeremy Cole, who combined to strike out 6 and walk 4.

Dan Lenz had 2 hits for the Royals.

"We had opportunities to bust it open but we couldn't get the big hit," Esterino said.

Will King took the loss for the Royals, allowing 6 hits and 4 earned runs in 5⅔ innings.

Esterino continued to laud the leadership his seniors showed an otherwise young team.

"When we do get it done in the playoffs. we told them these seniors will be a part of it," Esterino said.

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