Du Quoin drops Harrisburg; Galatia-Thompsonville rallies past Hardin County

Mackenzie Jackson and Chloe Hill led the way for the Du Quoin Lady Indians Wednesday evening as they picked up a 5-1 run over Harrisburg. <br />Jackson kept the Lady Bulldogs off balance all day at the plate, taking a no-hitter into fifth inning, surrendering just three hits and four walks, while striking out four. <br />Harrisburg starting pitcher Alli Ferrel was tagged early, as Katie Smith and Jackson led off the first inning with single up the middle and bunt single, respectively. <br />Ferrel retired the next two batters, but Chloe Hill came up in the clutch with a single up the middle to score Smith and Jackson to give Du Quoin a 2-0 lead.<br />The Lady Bulldogs managed to cut the deficit in half in the top of the fourth, despite not recording a hit. <br />Abby Dalton led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Madeline Rider. <br />Dalton advanced to third on a stolen base, while Essence Sanders drew a walk with two-outs in the inning. From there, Sanders and Dalton executed a double steal as Sanders drew a throw from the catcher and was safe at second to allow Dalton to take home, cutting the Du Quoin lead to 2-1. <br />Harrisburg's Gillian Jones spoiled Jackson no-hit bid in the fifth with an infield single with two outs. McKenzie Sullivan followed up with a single of her own, but Jackson escaped the inning inducing a fly-out to left. <br />The Lady Indians tacked on three insurance runs in the fifth, with Hill picking up her third RBI of the game to go along with RBI doubles from Jackson and Grace Haney. <br />Essence Sanders picked up a two-out single in the sixth, but Harrisburg failed to get anymore offense from there as Jackson retired the last four batters she faced to pick up her sixth win on the season.<br /><strong>Galatia-Thompsonville 6, Hardin County 5</strong><br />&#160;The Galatia-Thompsonville softball team picked up a hard-fought 6-5 win over Hardin County, a game in which Bearcats head coach Kevin Lewis said was a huge win in the Greater Egyptian Conference.<br />Galatia-Thompsonville is now 5-2 overall and 2-0 in league play. <br />With a flair for the dramatic, the Bearcats staged a four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh to win the game.<br />After Hardin County scored three runs in the top of the seventh to take a 5-2 lead, Maddy Murphy smacked a one-out single and that was followed by a Mallory Mays one-out single. Emma Reagan hit a two-out double that scored Murphy and Mays and Kennedy Harris hit the game-tying single to score Reagan. <br />Harris stole second and third and scored on Katie Ramsey's game-winning double for the win.<br />The Bearcats had nine hits total as Harris missed the cycle by a home run, going 3-for-4 with two RBI. Reagan was 2-for-4 with two RBI, while Ramsey, Murphy and Mays all had one hit.<br />Dani Reynolds picked up the win in the circle for the Bearcats, going 6.1 innings, giving up four runs, two earned on six hits, while striking out eight and walking four.