Baseball: Boley, Larkin snap St. Charles East's win streak

It was the third game of the series but Larkin's Gunnar Boley enjoyed a day of firsts Thursday afternoon against St. Charles East.

The junior right-hander tossed a 3-hit complete game in a 101-pitch effort to help lift the Royals (8-12, 5-10) to a 3-1 Upstate Eight Conference River Division baseball victory over the host Saints (15-5, 10-2).

"I think it has been awhile since we've beaten St. Charles East," said Boley, who hit a pair of batters, walked two and struck out three - including the final batter of the game with the tying run at the plate.

"It's the first time beating St. Charles East in my three years of high school. I've never pitched a full game before and I really wanted this one. It felt great."

After losing the first two games of the series, Larkin spotted the Saints a 1-0 lead in the third after Boley plunked Steve Abruzzo with a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded.

However, Boley worked his way out of the 2-out jam and settled down, retiring 11 consecutive batters at one point before Justin Galante's 2-out single in the seventh.

"We wiggled out of it," said Royals coach Matt Esterino. "Instead of getting upset and walking someone or hitting someone, we kept it at one run. That's a big step for us because we were going to find a way to score and make it a ballgame."

Larkin grabbed the lead for good during a 2-run fourth that was highlighted by Jackson Reuter's leadoff double, a walk to Kobe Mounivong, a wild pitch, a passed ball and an RBI single from Michael Rodriguez (2 for 3).

Junior catcher Cy Kerber provided some insurance with his 2-out RBI single in the sixth.

"Kerber had a great at-bat and hit a curveball that was up a little," said Esterino. "That was a big run."

And it was a big win for the Royals.

"We just had to have short memories because we didn't play our best games the last two days," said Esterino. "But it's a new day and a new game. We were able to make the adjustments and Gunnar threw very well.

"It's not a coincidence that when we pound the strike zone and put the ball in play, we give ourselves a shot."

Boley also escaped a bases loaded situation in the bottom of the first following an infield error, hit batsman and infield single.

"We're kind of working on that as a team as well - fighting through the adversity," said Esterino.

The Saints' offense managed just 3 singles from Nico Piaskowy, John Carroll and Galante in support of junior starting pitcher Jeremy Cox (4 hits allowed, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts).

"I thought Jeremy threw well and we played good enough defense here but our offense has to do more," said Saints coach Len Asquini, whose team saw its 7-game winning streak snapped. "We're not winning many games going into the seventh inning with only two hits.

"We hit some balls hard right at people but that's baseball. We have to generate more than that. The offense is something that we have to continue to focus on."