Rocco Triolo stepped into the batter’s box with the bases loaded, one out, and the game tied in the bottom of the seventh. He hit it through the gap to score Tyler Hudik and walked it off.

Lincoln-Way East’s 9-8 victory over Lockport on Friday snapped the Porters’ 15-game winning streak and capped an improbable rally that saw the Griffins score three runs in their final at-bat.

Trailing 8-6 entering the seventh, Hudik’s single sent Keegan Crabtree home to bring the Griffins within one with one out and runners on first and second.

Evan Riif then singled to load the bases with one out and Crossley up to bat. Curtiss Crossley drew the bases loaded walk to tie it up 8-8.

That set the stage for Triolo’s heroics, his fourth hit of the game.

“(I knew) I was going to walk it off,” Triolo said. “I got up there with all of the confidence in the world. I got up there and knew I was going to walk it off.”

Lincoln-Way East (25-4) came into the year expecting some growing pains after replacing an impressive senior class from last year. All the Griffins did was win their first 12 games and seven straight after their first loss.

They’d gone 5-2 over their last seven after entering Friday, but had dropped two of their last three with a 6-0 loss to the Porters on Wednesday.

While Lincoln-Way East jumped out to an early lead, Lockport pulled ahead 8-6 with a four-run fifth inning and kept the Griffins off the board in the fifth and sixth. Lincoln-Way East never gave up and as a result, they won an absolute thriller.

“For us it was about resiliency, fight and grit,” Griffins coach John McCarthy said. “Those were the things we needed and then we got it to our best player with an opportunity to win the game and we felt really good about that. ...Just an incredible effort by the boys.”

Drew Satunas doubled in the top of the first to score Connor Ryan and give Lockport a quick 1-0 edge.

How things changed in such short order. After Austin Winge struck out the leadoff hitter, it was walk, single, walk with the second single coming from Cooper Johnson to score Curtiss Crossley. Winge walked the next two batters, sending Triolo home to put the Griffins up 2-1.

Winge then walked Nate Kaminski with the bases still loaded and Jake Newman’s sacrifice fly scored Matt Ritter to make it 4-1 Lincoln-Way East in a hurry.

Lockport struck back in the top of the third.

After back-to-back singles, it was back-to-back strikeouts before Adam Kozak’s RBI single sent Caden Russell home. That cut it to 4-2 and Kaden O’Leary cut it to 4-3 the next at bat when he scored on a wild pitch. The same at bat saw Jack Schiek hit a RBI double to score Kozak and tie the game.

Lincoln-Way East took the lead right back in the bottom of the third on Triolo’s leadoff solo shot the second pitch of the frame. Winge hit the next two batters and later walked the bases loaded before being pulled. David Fiedor stepped in from there and Newman picked up another sac fly to score Johnson and make it 6-4.

Lockport bounced back big in the top of the fifth.

Kozak’s RBI single scored Ryan and an Jake Manzo to tie the game up after a dropped ball on a tag out attempt at second base. Schiek doubled to score Kozak right after to give the Porters the lead and David Kundrat’s single later scored Matt Kies to make it 8-6 in favor of Lockport.

Triolo finished 4 for 5 with two runs and two RBIs to lead the Griffins.

Lockport (22-8) was led by Kozak (2 for 4, three RBIs) and Schiek (3 for 4, two RBIs). The Porters’ spirits were high despite the result and coach Scott Malinowski was glass half-full after the game.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to learn from,” Malinowski said. “It was a great environment, we had adversity in a lot of different forms. Life is all about perspective. You can be glass half-full or half-empty. I know it hurts right now, but there’s a lot of things to learn from here.”