Lady Indians squeeze out extra-inning victory
Lady Indians squeeze out extra-inning victory
BY RICK HAYES
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
BENTON - Facing a 3-0 deficit going into the final inning, Du Quoin High School's softball team rallied to tie Benton in the seventh and pushed across the winning run in the ninth for a 4-3 victory over the Rangerettes on Wednesday.
It was the opening game for both teams.
Benton's only error of the game turned into an opportunity for the Lady Indians in the ninth. Number nine hitter Chloe Hess reached on a two-base error when Eb Casey's low throw from short could not be corralled.
Leadoff hitter, left-handed Katie Smith, got the game-winning RBI on a double up the middle. The winning hit came off freshman Addisyn Miller, who relieved sophomore starter Kiley Carter in the eighth.
Carter was breezing along through six innings, yielding just three hits. She finished with seven strikeouts. She ran into trouble in the seventh with two walks and an infield bunt that was unplayable.
With first base open, Du Quoin's Morgan Bullar delivered a game-tying double with a rope to left.
"We tried to be patient in the last couple of innings, take some pitches and see what she (Carter) does and work the walk. On that bunt, I think they waited for it to roll foul and it just stuck," explained Du Quoin coach Jason James. "I was surprised they didn't put Bullar on. She's probably the best hitter in our lineup. With her to come up with two strikes and hit the ball hard and make something happen was big."
Bullar was 2-for-5 in leading Du Quoin's seven hit attack. Smith's double in the ninth was the only extra-base hit. Maci McKinnies was responsible for the infield bunt hit and Olivia Whitley, Kaylee Aleshire and Hess singled.
"You figured it was going to be hard to manufacture runs and do stuff with it being the first game. I thought the kids did a good job in the late innings to make things happen," James added.
Chloe Hill got the pitching victory, going the full nine innings. She surrendered eight hits and struck out four.
"She was our number two last year. She's a kid that will throw strikes and has good movement. She's not going to get a lot of strikeouts, but she gets a lot of popups and ground balls and we've just got to play defense behind her," James said.
Carter was 3-for-4 at the plate for Benton, giving the Rangerettes a 1-0 lead in the third with an RBI single. Carter singled and came around to score in the two-run sixth on a Lindsey Seidel double to right. Miller plated Seidel on a single up the middle. Baylie Sawyer added two hits for Benton and Casey a single.
"We had our chances. This is probably the fourth time we've been outside and Du Quoin always has a good team. I thought we made some plays and a couple we didn't make. Overall, for the first day out it was not a bad day," said Benton coach Ryan Miller.
He was pleased with the effort from Carter.
"She is just a sophomore and Addisyn a freshman. Pitching-wise that's usually the place where a lot of softball teams are short. I think we've got a good nucleus for pitching that can lead us for the next several years."
He added, "This is going to be a fun crew to watch. We're going to make some stuff happen."
Du Quoin is hosting a round robin Saturday with games against Vienna and Marissa-Coulterville starting at 11 a.m.