SOFTBALL: Falcons fifth at 30th Kelso Klassic

The 30th annual installment of the Kelso Klassic mens' fast-pitch softball tournament began and ended in similar fashion for the Pinckneyville Falcons.

The event started with a 1-0 loss to the same team - and the same pitcher - who would eventually eliminate the Falcons from the event on Sunday: Terry Luster and Clubhouse Bar & Grill.

Luster, who ranks fourth in career strikeouts at the Kelso tournament, fanned thirteen Falcons on Friday night and allowed just one hit - a fifth-inning base hit by Steve Linton.

Bryant Hale did all he could to keep the Falcons in the game, giving up only two hits along with six walks while striking out seven. The only run he allowed was an unearned tally in the fourth, following an error and a two-out triple.

After fighting through three games in the loser's bracket, Pinckneyville matched up with Clubhouse once more on Sunday, where Luster again got the better of the Falcons in a 4-2 win. This time, Luster struck out seven and allowed three hits.

Linton (1-3), Matt Mason (1-3) and Hayden Hicks (1-3) had hits and Daniel Eisenhauer added an RBI in the loss, which sent the Falcons home with a tie for fifth place at the event. Troy Downen took the loss in the circle in relief of B. Hale.

"It was a pretty good weekend for us against some very good teams," said player-coach Eric Saunders. "It took a very good pitcher to beat our lineup twice and he was able to do so. We made some adjustments against him the second time but just couldn't get over the hump."

After Friday's loss to CB&G, Pinckneyville opened loser's bracket play with Franny's Ole Irish Pub in what amounted to a throw-away game for both teams - despite both squads having one loss, a second loss would not knock them out of the three-game-guaranteed tournament.

Making his first career appearance in the circle, C.J. Opp got the start for Pinckneyville and had a 6-5 lead before running into some control issues in the bottom of the fourth inning. Franny's wound up getting the win 13-6 in five innings, as Eisenhauer finished out the game on the rubber.

A three-run homer by B. Hale and three hits by Drew Dudek highlighted the offense for the Falcons in the loss.

Dudek (3-3, 3B), B. Hale (1-2, 3 RBI, HR), Linton (1-1), Hicks (2-3), Mason (1-3), Garrick Hale (1-3, RBI) and Lyle Winter (1-3, 2B) hit safely against Franny's.

Saunders also made history during the game with Franny's, stealing his 16th career base at the Kelso Klassic to tie Dave Scott for the most all-time at the event.

In their best all-around game of the tournament, Pinckneyville took out Bushue Brothers Tree Service 8-0 in five innings in their second game on Saturday. Downen got the win, giving up only four hits and striking out three.

The Falcons got a pair of runs in the bottom of the first on Eisenhauer's two-run homer, then piled on four in the bottom of the second after hits from Saunders, Winter, Bryant Shute, Mason (triple) and Eisenhauer.

Saunders and Mason added RBIs later in the game to knock Bushue Brothers out of the tournament.

"We are becoming a very solid team and our pitching continues to very strong," Saunders said. "We were able to beat a team Saturday that has given us trouble for a while and we'll continue to improve."

Shute (1-2, BB), Mason (2-2, 2 RBI, 3B, BB), Eisenhauer (2-2, 3 RBI, HR, BB), Linton (1-3), Saunders (2-2, RBI, 2B) and Winter (1-2) had hits for the Falcons.

Pinckneyville upended the Belleville Stallions 4-1 on Sunday morning to stay alive as Downen put in his second strong performance in a row, allowing just one earned run on seven hits with five strikeouts.

Shute (1-4), Eisenhauer (1-3, RBI), Linton (2-3, HR, RBI), G. Hale (1-3), Mason (1-4, 2 RBI) and Daniel Alstat (1-4) hit safely for the Falcons.

Pinckneyville's next scheduled tournament will begin June 28th in Hermann, MO.

The Bloomington Stix beat Black & Gold 12-0 in the championship to claim first place at Kelso. The Central Illinois Knights were third.

B.J. Hunhoff (Stix) and Eric Steinback (B&G) shared Most Valuable Pitcher honors and Casey Spears (Knights) took home Most Valuable Player.