Baseball: Harrisburg knocks off West Frankfort in regional semis

The Harrisburg High School baseball team punched its ticket to the championship of Saturday's IHSA Class 2A Regional title game, knocking off West Frankfort 8-2 Thursday at Jay Thompson Field.<br />Dalton Lambert picked up the win for Harrisburg, going the distance, as the junior right hander allowed four hits and one earned run, striking out nine with no walks.<br />Lambert helped out his cause at the mound by going 3-for-3 at the dish with with two RBI.<br />Jordan Gould, Isaac Crabb and Presley Gauch all had multiple hits as Crabb and Gauch each drove in one run. Gould and Gauch both scored two runs for Harrisburg in the win.<br />Cameron Wendler and Jack Martin both went 1-for-3 on the day as Martin finished with two RBI. Raj Patel scored two runs, Noah Mayer and Connor Phalin each scored one run.<br />West Frankfort took an early 2-0 lead after the top half of the first inning, but Harrisburg responded with four runs as Gould led the inning off with a single to center field. After Will Holland grounded out to third and advancing Gould to second, Lambert doubled on a line drive to left field to score Gould. Gauch then singled on a line drive to center field, scoring Patel, who was pinch running for Lambert and Crabb followed with a double on a line drive to center field advancing Gauch to third. With two outs, Harrisburg tacked on two more when Martin singled to left to field to score Gauch and Phalin.<br />In the third inning, Harrisburg tacked on two more runs as Crabb singled to center, scoring Patel, again pinch running for Lambert and Gauch scored on an error.<br />The last two runs came in the fourth when Lambert singled on a line drive to right field scoring Mayer and advancing Gould to third, who had previously singled himself. Gould then scored on an error.<br />Harrisburg (14-18) will now play Benton (27-6) on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Jay Thompson Field for the 2A Regional title.