BASEBALL: Indians get big conference win at A-J
Levi Brening was dealing on the mound and Du Quoin mustered up just enough offense for the Indians to extend their winning streak to six games by out-lasting Anna-Jonesboro 2-1 in eight innings on Friday.
Brening retired the first eleven Wildcats in a row to start the game and fanned seven straight batters during the same stretch. He struck out twelve in the game and allowed six hits and a walk.
"Levi threw great," said DHS head baseball coach Tim Craft. "He was in command the whole time. He started getting tired a little bit there at the end but he came back and made some pitches at 3-0 with the bases loaded and the winning run at second base. He came back and made three good pitches. I just can't say enough about his pitching performance and I can't say enough about the kids playing behind him today."
"He got a lot of guys swinging at that first pitching and hitting it into the ground, and a lot of guys he struck out on three pitches."
The win puts the Indians at 5-2 in the SIRR Mississippi Division, and assures that Du Quoin can do no worse than a tie for the conference title if they are able to win out in their final three conference games.
"We've been telling the kids we want to control our own destiny," Craft said. "We thought it was going to be pretty tough once we had those two losses, but they've responded. We've still got work to do but they've done a good job."
The 0-0 tie in the pitchers duel between Brening and A-J's Colin Prather was broken by A.J. Smith's solo homer in the top of the sixth inning.
Du Quoin missed out on a chance for some insurance in the seventh, loading the bases before the potential rally was thwarted. That allowed the Wildcats to force extra baseball when Blake Klett doubled to tie it up at 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh.
Brock Bullar started Du Quoin's eighth with a double, went to third on Braden Lee's sacrifice, and scored on a bloop base hit Ryne O'Rourke to give the Indians the lead.
"Baseball's a funny game," said Craft, "you can hit lasers all over the field that get caught and then you get away with a blooper that ultimately ends up being the game-winning hit. Ryne came up big for us. A.J. came up big with that home run that got us on the board first."
Brening got the first two batters in the bottom of the eighth before singles by Bryce Osman and Colin Prather put the tying and go-ahead runs on base. Du Quoin then elected to put Noah Prather on first base with an intentional walk to load the sacks for Isaac Pender.
Brening fell behind 3-0 in the count before getting Pender to dribble a 3-1 pitch out in front of the plate where Bullar, the Indians catcher, pounced on it and got the out at first base to end the game.
Smith (3-3, R, RBI, HR, BB), Brening (2-4), Bullar (1-2, R, 2B, SAC, HBP), O'Rourke (2-4, RBI) and Dalton Day (1-4) had hits for Du Quoin.
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Harrisburg sweeps doubleheader (Saturday):</span>
Du Quoin's win streak came to a halt a day later when the Bulldogs picked up 10-2 and 15-3 wins on Saturday at Harrisburg. The Indians were out-hit 11-to-6 in game one and 15-to-7 in game two.
Smith (1-3, R), Brening (1-3, RBI), Bullar (1-3, RBI), Lee (1-3) and Cole Hopkins (1-3) hit for Du Quoin in the first game. Smith (2-3, R), Brening (1-2, RBI, BB), Bullar (1-2, BB), Lee (1-3, 2 RBI), O'Rourke (1-3) and Jacob Valier (1-3, R) had hits in the second game.
The Indians (12-8, 5-2) can take another step towards a potential conference championship on Monday when they host Nashville.