Larsen threw eight straight balls, walking Llort and Osuna. Sea Kings Coach John Emme came out to the mound to see what was wrong. The blood on Larsen's middle finger explained it all.

"It was a shame Evan came up with a blister that, you know, came out of nowhere, and it was obviously affecting him," said Emme, who only loses five seniors, while key players like Larsen, and three players who started as freshmen, Hartsell in the outfield, Chazz Martinez on the mound and Schwartz at shortstop, plan to return next year for Emme's 19th season in charge of the Sea Kings. "I'm not sure when [the blister] appeared. I noticed it in the inning that we took him out, but Evan's a bulldog. He's going to, you know, try to fight through stuff.

"It's never fun to go out [in the first round], but that's playoff baseball."

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