Sectional finals for Royals after 4-2 win over Hononegah

Larkin baseball players are usually turning in their uniforms in early June, not turning in gems.

"I woke up today thinking, 'I'm playing baseball,' " senior center fielder Justin Kalusa said Wednesday. "I just had a great feeling all day."

Kalusa and the rest of the Royals will wake up on the right side of the bed for at least three more days. Larkin advanced to a sectional title game for the first time since 1991 by beating undefeated NIC-10 Conference champion Rockton Hononegah 4-2 in a Class 4A DeKalb sectional semifinal Wednesday.

Larkin (22-16) will play the winner of today's semifinal between Cary-Grove (28-8-1) and Huntley (30-6-1) at DeKalb High School on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Uniform turn-in day has been delayed indefinitely.

"I hope this never ends," Larkin senior Jon Meidel said. "This is the funnest team I've ever been on."

Senior Luc Geier raised his record to 8-2 and lowered his ERA to 2.27 by holding Hononegah (30-8) to 2 earned runs on 4 hits. He struck out five without issuing a walk.

Geier barely flinched when his mound opponent, Iowa Western recruit Dustin Meier (10-2), hammered a high, cut fastball for a long home run to left field to open the top of the second inning. The homer put Hononegah ahead 1-0.

"You just have to stay calm in these kinds of games," Geier said. "Last year after I threw that kind of pitch, I would have been afraid to throw it the rest of the game. This year I have a lot of confidence and that's helped out a lot."

The Royals dented Meier for 3 runs in the third inning. Junior Alex Wahl led off with a double down the left-field line and No. 9 hitter Shane Glasgow bunted him to third. Reid Ellis tied the game 1-1 on a groundout to shortstop.

With two outs the Royals rallied anew. Scott Harm drew a walk from Meier before Kalusa stretched a single to right into a double, putting two men in scoring position for Meidel. The cleanup hitter stayed back on a curveball and blooped a single to shallow left field, scoring both runners for a 3-1 Larkin lead.

"He had me out on my front foot," Meidel said of the off-speed pitch. "I sort of waved at it and got it off the handle. It just floated into left. A good, old-fashioned doinker, as we like to call it."

The Indians pulled within 3-2 in the fifth inning on a two-out basehit by sophomore Grant Atkins, but Kalusa got the run back immediately in the bottom of the fifth. With one out he launched a 400-foot home run into the wind in dead center to restore Larkin's 2-run cushion. He ripped a fastball at the knees.

"I wasn't expecting to hit a home run," Kalusa said. "I just wanted to put it in play and the ball just sailed."

Geier stranded a Hononegah runner at second base in the sixth inning by striking out Meier for the second time. In the seventh he allowed a two-out single to Jake Lanning. Dustin Bowman followed with a sinking line drive to center field, but Kalusa charged forward and made a diving grab to end the game.

"I definitely caught that ball," Kalusa said. "I just showed it to the umpire, who hadn't made the final call yet."

Good pitching, timely hitting and solid defense have lifted the Royals to three straight postseason victories.

"We've been playing like this the last couple of months," Larkin coach Matt Esterino said. "We're loose, but we're not goofy. We just go out, have fun and play the game not the opponent. It's kind of our mantra. We're swinging the bats and playing good defense behind Luc and whoever we throw out there."