Dramatic victory for Royals

Larkin players await Scott Harm (8), who hit a game-winning home run Saturday to defeat Dundee-Crown in the finals of the Royals Class 4A regional in Elgin. dave shields | for the courier-news

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ELGIN -- Larkin players whiffed Saturday when they tried to sneak up behind coach Matt Esterino to douse him with a celebratory vat of water.

Barely a drop got on him.

Moments earlier, though, the Royals' Scott Harm didn't whiff. With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Larkin's right-handed hitting third baseman launched a first-pitch offering from Dundee-Crown reliever Mike Vodicka over the fence in right-center for a walk-off home run and a 6-5 victory in the finals of the Larkin Class 4A Regional.

"He was throwing first pitch fastballs and he just left one right in the middle of the plate and I just took it out," Harm said. "That's what I was looking for. I was just trying to get a base hit and get the team going and it just happened to go over."

The regional title-winning homer put the Royals (21-16) in Wednesday's 4 p.m. DeKalb Class 4A Sectional against Rockton Hononegah (29-7). Larkin had last won a regional plaque in 2007.

"I can't wait to see that plaque up on the wall," Harm said. "That's going to be great. To see that every day walking in the hallway is going to be amazing."

The home run ended what would have been an amazing Cinderella story for fourth-seeded Dundee-Crown, which finished 8-24-1. The Chargers had forged a tie at 5 on Brendon Schumacher's two-run, sixth-inning home run that deflected off the glove of leaping center fielder Reid Ellis.

"I give them (D-C) a lot of credit," Esterino said. "They had nothing to lose. D-C did a good job. They hit the two-run homer in the sixth, but give our kids credit, too. We didn't get down. We had first and third, none out (in the sixth) and didn't score. And we just came right back and we hung in there and won it."

After Larkin's Joe Stace reached on shortstop Steve Schwartz's error in the sixth, Carlos Rojo singled to right off Schumacher to put runners on the corners with none out. D-C went to Vodicka (3-2), who did a spectacular job of relief with two strikeouts and a fly out to center. But Vodicka was victimized for the game-deciding homer in the seventh.

"The ball really carries to right-center and he got the ball up a little bit, but by no means can we (blame) Mike," D-C coach Jon Sawyer said. "Without that (relief) we're probably not even pitching in that inning because he came in with runners on first and third and nobody out and gets us out of there. It (the homer) was just a good swing by them."

Larkin had strong relief of its own after starter Justin Kalusa allowed only three hits in 5 2/3 innings, but was burned for four unearned runs in a sloppy game. Reliever Jon Meidel (3-3) got the win with a two-strikeout seventh, while Brandon Anderson picked up two key outs on a strikeout and fly out after D-C put runners on first and second with one out following Schumacher's tying home run.

"I'll be honest; I think we were nervous," Esterino said. "I think both us were a little nervous, especially in the first innings."

D-C scored three in the second with only one hit -- an RBI single by Kyle Ryan. Another scored on a throwing error by Harm and the other on a passed ball.

Larkin got one back in the second on Luc Geier's RBI single, then tied it in the third when runs scored on a balk and wild pitch by Schumacher.

The Royals went ahead in the bottom of the fifth on Kalusa's RBI single just past the glove of first baseman Ethan Finn, then added insurance when Schumacher threw wild on a pickoff move to first with a runner leading off third.

Kalusa, Craig Wenzel and Rojo had two hits each for Larkin. Ryan had two of D-C's three hits.