Stazy, South Elgin close out Larkin
Closing out a playoff game under pressure is a scenario kid pitchers have acted out in baseball pickup games for generations.
South Elgin senior pitcher Eric Stazy experienced the real deal in his team’s 7-5 victory over host Larkin in a Class 4A regional semifinal Wednesday.
The game-ending scenario unfolded bit by-building bit in the top of the seventh. Trailing top regional seed South Elgin by 2 runs, No. 4 Larkin was sparked when junior Niko Morado’s hard-hit groundball to shortstop was bobbled for an error. Senior Kyle Newquist then yanked a single to left field, his third hit in 4 at-bats.
Larkin senior Nate Young laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt on the first pitch of his at-bat to advance the runners. But Stazy, who entered the game in relief of David Palmer in the fourth inning, brought the Storm within an out of victory when he struck out sophomore Brayden Royse, who earlier tripled and drove in 2 runs.
Larkin senior Austin Royse then drew a walk from Stazy to load the bases for senior Drew Shore, a three-year varsity player and team captain. Stazy quickly put Shore in an 0-2 hole.
With the South Elgin fans on their feet clamoring for the last out, Stazy struck out Shore swinging at a fastball on the outside edge to advance South Elgin to a regional title game for the third straight season.
“Anytime the bases are loaded, two outs, and you’ve got the fans behind you, those are the moments you dream of as a little kid playing baseball — I love that!” Stazy said. “You feel like you have all the momentum. People are just behind you, rooting you on. It’s awesome.”
The win advances South Elgin (19-12) to Saturday’s regional title game, which has been moved up an hour to 10 a.m. to accommodate South Elgin’s scheduled graduation at 2 p.m. The Storm will play the winner of today’s semifinal between No. 2 Barrington and No. 3 Elgin.
“It’s always nice to have the opportunity to compete for a regional title,” South Elgin coach Jim Kating said. “I think it’s something special. Winning one two years ago was special, and having another opportunity is just fantastic.”
The loss ended the season for gutty Larkin (11-23). The Royals fought back from a 4-1 deficit after three innings to tie the game with a 3-run fourth, keyed by Brayden Royse’s 2-run triple and Austin Royse’s game-tying sacrifice fly.
The rally against Palmer was particularly impressive since the junior right-hander had thrown 6-innings of 1-hit ball against the Royals in a 6-0 win on April 4.
“I think it shows how much the kids bought into changing a little bit offensively and changing their swings,” Esterino said. “Their starter 1-hit us, and we knocked him out of the game in the fourth. But every time we got close or tied it they answered back, so you have to give them credit.”
South Elgin broke back on top immediately with 2 runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 6-4 lead. A single by David Goins, a Larkin error and a walk issued to Andrew Weedman loaded the bases with one out for Jake Buhman. South Elgin’s No. 5 hitter drew a second straight walk from Larkin starting pitcher Austin Royse (3-5) to force in the go-ahead run.
Another Larkin error on a hard-hit, 2-hopper off the bat of catcher Andrew Perry allowed an inherited runner to score against reliever Brayden Royse, who then retired the next two hitters to minimize the damage. The Storm stranded 10 baserunners in six innings.
“We’ve been struggling offensively,” Kating said. “We put the ball in play and, fortunately, scored some runs. But we still left way too many guys on base and could have made it a lot easier on ourselves if we come through and be a little more patient at the plate.”
South Elgin managed 8 hits against the Royse brothers, highlighted by a 3-for-4 performance from Palmer.
“We played a couple of practice games this week and we got it together,” Palmer said. “That was good practice. We have to keep it going on Saturday.”
As for the close call for the top seed?
“A win’s a win,” Palmer said. “We’ll take it any way we can get it.”
Larkin scored a run on Pete Lennard’s RBI single in the sixth to claw within 2 runs going to the seventh.
“It’s a credit to our kids,” Esterino said. “We fought. We couldn’t get the zero after we got close or tied it, and we just left a couple of plays on the field. We couldn’t get the big hit or the big play, but we scrapped. We could have easily laid down. I’m proud of my seniors.”