Baseball: Glenbard East edges Larkin in 11 innings
Patience and perseverance paid off for the Glenbard East baseball team on Saturday.
The Rams were the beneficiaries of 10 walks and 3 hit batters in a 7-4 Upstate Eight Conference crossover win in 11 innings at Larkin despite leaving 14 runners on base.
Glenbard East had ample opportunity to build a big lead early on, but left the bases loaded in the second and third innings. The Rams had other chances to pull ahead in the eighth and 10th innings only to leave a pair of baserunners stranded each time.
However, the Rams finally cashed in on an opening in the 11th inning. Nathan Bertuca drew a walk to lead off the inning. Noah Davies pinch ran for Bertuca.
A sacrifice bunt by Jacob Behrendt moved Davies to second base. He went to third on single to left by Austin Grote. Davies eventually scored on a sacrifice fly to deep center off the bat of Conner Grzenia.
The Rams added a pair of unearned runs for insurance.
"The way we played in that last inning is the way we need to be playing all the time," Glenbard East coach Joel Pelland said. "We got the leadoff man on and then executed everything we needed to do to get him home. We've struggled in some situations this year to get runners home. We had a lot of chances to score again today, but the kids didn't hang their heads. They kept after it.'
Steve O'Brien pitched brilliantly out of the bullpen for the Rams to pick up the win. He shut out the Royals over the final 6 innings on just one hit.
"That's the kind of kid he is," Pelland. "He comes in any situation and does want we need him to do. The biggest thing is he throws strikes. He's got good movement and keeps the ball down. He was outstanding for us today."
O'Brien worked out of bases loaded, 2-out jam in the bottom of the seventh inning by getting an infield popup. He left 2 more runners stranded in the ninth inning before cruising down the stretch to retire the final 8 batters in a row.
"I was just taking it inning by inning," O'Brien said. "I was able to execute a lot of my pitches with 2 strikes. The fastball was my main pitch, but I was able to get a few guys out with my breaking ball."
The Rams (5-5, 1-0) led 3-1 after 3 innings. Bret Bushka had an RBI single while Brandon Quigley and Jack Oberli each had an RBI with bases-loaded walks.
Larkin (6-3, 2-1) pulled ahead 4-3 with 3 runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Royals were also the beneficiaries of 10 walks and four of those came in the fifth inning. Kobe Mounivong had an RBI infield single in the inning and Max Anderson drove in a run on a groundball.
The Rams tied the game at 4-4 in the top of the sixth inning on a solo homer over the left field fence by Tommy Wilkans.
The Royals had their chances to put more runs on the board, too, but left 12 runners stranded.
Josh Frazier gave up just one earned run over the final 5 innings, but took the loss for the Royals.
"We just gave away too many freebies with all the walks today," Larkin coach Matt Esterino said. "We are trying to look at a lot of different arms still and trying to sort it out. We were still fortunate to be right in the game and put up a good fight and had our chances late."