Baseball: Glenbard East downs Larkin
It hasn't always come easy, but the Glenbard East baseball team has made a habit this year of pulling out close games.
The Rams' flair for the dramatic continued on Saturday with a 3-run seventh inning in a 4-1 Upstate Eight Conference crossover baseball win at Larkin.
Jack Oberli lined a 2-out, 2-run double down the left field line in the seventh inning to break a 1-1 tie.
"These guys have answered the call more often than not all year," Glenbard East coach Jack Pelland said. "It's tough on the blood pressure sometimes, but they find a way to get it done."
Mitchell Glennon led off the seventh inning by coaxing a walk. Jared Rech later reached on a dribbler down the first base line for an infield hit. That set the stage for Oberli's heroics.
"Those are the types of situations you play for," Oberli said. "I felt pretty confident going up there and was just trying to get the job done."
Oberli had already had a single and double earlier in the game before his final at-bat.
"I felt pretty good about our chances in that situation with Jack at the plate," Pelland said. "He's a returning all-conference player and an anchor in our lineup at the leadoff spot. He was seeing the ball real well off their pitcher and had some real good swings in his previous times up."
Ben Campos added an insurance run with an RBI single to drive in Oberli. Jeremy Johnson had an RBI single in the fourth inning to open the scoring for the Rams (12-4, 4-0).
Rech pitched 1⅔ innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win for East. He worked out of a bases loaded, one-out jam in the sixth inning with a strikeout and an easy ground out.
"Jared is one of those kids that will do anything to help the team," Pelland said. "This is his first year ever pitching. He wanted to expand his role to help the team. He was the quarterback on our football team and is very athletic, so it's no surprise he has been able to pick it up pretty fast. I have been really impressed with his arm slot and control."
Glenbard East starter Jack Crackle had a strong outing, yielding just 1 run in 5 innings of work.
Jackson Reuter pitched well for Larkin, but was the tough luck loser. He scattered 8 hits over 6⅔ innings.
Jeff Althamar accounted for the Royals' only run with an RBI double in the fourth inning. However, the Royals (6-7, 3-5) stranded 8 baserunners.
"It was one of those games where we felt if we could get the lead we would win it," Larkin coach Matt Esterino said. "We had our chances, but they executed a little more than us. Regardless the outcome I thought we played well. Every game we try to play good defense, throw a ton of strikes, and put the ball in play. For the most part I thought we did those things. Now we just have to figure out a way to pull out these close games."