FREEPORT — The Rochelle Little League 11U Baseball All-Stars defeated Freeport twice to take home the Illinois Little League District 19 Championship title this past weekend. Rochelle (2-0) opened the tournament with a 19-2 victory over Freeport on Thursday before edging Freeport 6-5 in the championship game Sunday afternoon.

The Rochelle 11U Baseball All-Stars will advance to compete at the Illinois Little League Sub-State Championship tournament in Peru.

Game 1

Rochelle scored seven runs in the top of the first inning before adding two runs in the second inning and sealing the win with 10 runs in the third inning. Bo Lundquist threw all three innings for Rochelle, limiting Freeport to only one hit and striking out four Freeport batters.

Elijah Schweitzer led Rochelle at the plate, going 4-for-4 with two doubles and five RBIs. Aidan Lopez singled twice and recorded three RBIs, while Lundquist hit two singles and totaled one RBI. Brayden Harley, Jace Spears, Dayton Mellor and Mikey Chadwick each collected one RBI.

Lundquist reached and scored on two errors in the top of the first inning for Rochelle’s first run. Schweitzer then doubled and scored on Harley’s RBI single. Lopez followed with a two-RBI single to score Harley and Holden Liebhaber to put Rochelle ahead 4-0. Spears scored on a wild pitch and Lopez scored when John Williams reached base on a dropped third strike. Lundquist brought Williams home with an RBI single for Rochelle’s seventh run of the first inning.

Leading 7-1, Rochelle added two runs in the top of the second inning. Schweitzer singled and scored on an RBI groundout from Spears before Mellor’s RBI single plated Liebhaber. Rochelle increased its 9-2 lead in the top of the third inning when Korbin Milos singled and scored on a two-RBI single from Schweitzer that also scored Lundquist. Liebhaber reached on an error to score Schweitzer before crossing home on a fielder’s choice grounder from Mikey Chadwick.

With Rochelle leading 13-2, Lopez belted an RBI single to plate Spears before Mikey Chadwick scored on an error. Joey Chadwick followed with a single and a run on an error. Four at-bats later, Schweitzer plated Milos, Lundquist and Luke Chadwick with a three-RBI double.

Game 2

Rochelle trailed 2-1 before scoring five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Elijah Schweitzer started the game on the mound, striking out 10 batters through five innings before Holden Liebhaber added two strikeouts in the sixth inning to secure the victory for Rochelle.

Brayden Harley went 3-for-3 with one RBI to lead the Rochelle offense, while Bo Lundquist singled twice and totaled one RBI. Luke Chadwick scored two runs and four players including Lundquist, Schweitzer, Harley and Korbin Milos scored one run. Jace Spears drew two walks.

Freeport took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning before Luke Chadwick reached on an error and scored on a passed ball for Rochelle in the bottom of the first inning. Trailing 2-1, Rochelle tied the game when Milos reached on an error and scored on Lundquist’s RBI single in the bottom of the fourth inning. Lundquist then scored on an error to give Rochelle a 3-2 lead.

Harley’s RBI single three at-bats later scored Luke Chadwick to make it a 4-2 game. Schweitzer scored on a passed ball and Harley scored on a wild pitch soon after, putting Rochelle ahead 6-2. Freeport scored two runs in the fifth inning and one run in the sixth inning, but fell short.