SOFTBALL: Emling's bomb helps carry PCHS past Herrin
Pinckneyville head coach Alan Engelhardt picked up his first career softball victory as Kala Emling hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning to help carry the Lady Panthers past Herrin 4-3 at Greg Hale Field.
"I'll remember the Kayla Emling swing for sure," Engelhardt said after the game. "That was a pretty swing on that. Obviously it's nice to get the first win under the belt. I thought the kids did a good job, that's (Herrin's) third game and today was our first."
Jordyn Wieland singled with one out and Taylor Howard walked to set up the two-out, three-run bomb by Emling off of Lady Tigers starter Tori Johnson that put PCHS in front to stay.
The Lady Panthers added an insurance run - one they'd need - in the bottom of the third inning with the help of two Herrin defensive errors. Brooklyn Morrow picked up an RBI for Pinckneyville to make it 4-0, but PCHS didn't get a baserunner again until the sixth.
"The early offense, I thought we put some good swings on early and got to thinking too much as the game went on, " That's something we'll work on, but I'm pleased with the overall first outing.
Howard got the start for PCHS and hadn't let a runner get past second base when Herrin broke through in the fourth. Johnson doubled and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Haley Hunter.
Hunter got to Howard again in the sixth for a two-run blast, bringing in Whitney Woodis who reached on an error.
But Howard settled down after that, retiring the final six Herrin batters to close out the win.
"Taylor Howard did a nice job battling on the mound," Engelhardt said. "After the home run, she came right back and worked out of it."
"She was putting a little movement on it, kept it away, kept it down, changed speeds, and it made it difficult for them to square. Anytime you do that you give yourself a chance for success, and I thought she did a great job with that. Aside from a couple miscues, our defense did the job behind her, which is what we're going to have to do to win games."
Emling (1-2, R, 3 RBI, BB, HR), Wieland (1-3, R), and Morrow (1-3, RBI) had the only three hits for Pinckneyville. Howard (0-1, BB, SAC) and Maddie Jones (0-3, R) scored runs.
Howard (1-0) allowed five Herrin hits, walked two and and struck out two.
For the Lady Tigers, Johnson (2-3, 2B), Woodis (1-3, R), Hunter (1-2, R, 3 RBI, HR, SAC) and Kelsey Lentz (1-2, BB) hit safely.
Pinckneyville (1-0) has a busy weekend ahead of them, hosting Okawville on Friday at 4:30 p.m. then Mater Dei (10:00 a.m.) and Red Bud (1:00 p.m.) on Saturday.