ROCHELLE — A strong start by Rotary Club was just enough to pick up a victory in Major League action Thursday evening, as the boys scored four runs in the first inning to defeat Lions Club 10-9 as the Rochelle Little League regular season winds down.
Nine Rotary hitters approached the plate in the first inning, with Alex Burnette singling to start the frame and Kaiden Morris reaching base soon after. Burnette and Morris scored on a triple by Jacob Andrist, and both Christian Burnette and Landon DeLille crossed home plate thanks to a walk by Landon Mickley and a single by Ben Clark.
Lions Club scored one run in the top half of the first, with Ryan Simmons singling and both Jack Tracey and Griffin Ohlinger walking, but the boys would find themselves trailing 9-1 after Rotary Club added five more runs in the second.

Back-to-back triples by Alex Burnette and Morris led to walks by Andrist and Christian Burnette, and Jayden Banta scored after drawing a walk and crossing on a single by Clark.
While Rotary jumped out of the gate, Lions Club clawed its way back with two runs in the third inning and four runs in the fourth inning. Eli Koonce singled to start the scoring threat in the third, with Simmons doubling and Denton Johnson walking and scoring on a single by Tracey.
Koonce’s double jump-started Lions Club in the fourth inning, and three straight walks led to runs off a single by Bradley Cooney. Lions Club added two more in the top of the fifth inning to tie the game at 9-9, but singles by Rotary’s Andrist and Christian Burnette put Rotary Club up by one run heading into the sixth inning, where Burnette struck out the side to seal the Rotary victory.
Rotary Club’s record improves to 7-6 overall with the win, while Lions Club falls to 5-9 with the loss.