BASEBALL: Top of the order carries Indians past Panthers
Du Quoin and Pinckneyville traded blows back and forth in Tuesday's SIRR Mississippi Division clash and the Indians came up with just a little bit more offense to escape with a 10-7 road win at Rigdon Field.
The top three batters in the Indians' lineup - Ethan Keller, Jacob Valier and A.J. Smith - combined to go 8-for-13 at the plate with five runs scored and five RBIs. Dalton Day got the win, working into the sixth, and Levi Brening nailed down the save with a scoreless inning and two-thirds of relief.
"The kids responded to a tough loss (Monday against Nashville)," said DHS head baseball coach Tim Craft. "They put everything they had into it yesterday and I wasn't sure how they'd respond today, but they came out, Dalton pitched a great game for us, gave us a almost six pretty strong innings, and Levi came in and put the fire out. The kids did a good job of hitting with runners in scoring position and just taking advantage of extra base runners."
The Panthers led 1-0 following an RBI grounder by Nolan Luke that brought in Miles Chandler, who led off with a double in the bottom of the first inning.
The Indians tied it up in similar fashion in the top of the second when Brock Bullar doubled off of PCHS starter Caleb Dahn and came in on an RBI by Ryne O'Rourke.
"For the most part I thought Caleb threw well," said Pinckneyville head coach Gabe Shepard. "When he got behind in the count, that's when he got in trouble."
A.J. Smith (single) and Braden Lee (two-run double) drove in runs for Du Quoin in the top of the third to make it 4-1 Indians, but the Panthers got two back on Tyler Rulevish's two-run homer in the bottom of the inning. Brening singled to drive in Smith (double) in the Indians' fifth and Du Quoin led 5-3.
Two errors, two walks and a hit batter helped set the table for RBIs by Du Quoin's Jacob Valier and A.J. Smith in the top of the sixth when the Indians picked up four to go up 9-3.
The Panthers didn't quit, however, getting four runs back in the bottom of the sixth to make things interesting. Justin Bauersachs drew a bases-loaded walk before Brian Kling singled to bring in three more runs and cut Pinckneyville's deficit to 9-7, but PCHS could get no closer.
Brening pitched around a single and a walk in the seventh to secure Du Quoin's sixth conference victory. Day allowed five hits and a walk and struck out five Panthers.
"Levi has come up big for us on the mound and at the plate all year," Craft said. "We really needed Dalton to give us as many innings as possible because we're kind of bleeding after playing so many games in so many days. He did exactly what we asked him to do."
Keller (3-3, 2 R, 2 BB), Valier (2-5, R, 3 RBI), A.J. Smith (3-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B), Brening (1-4, 2 R, RBI, BB), Bullar (1-3, R, 2B, BB), Lee (1-4, 2 RBI, 2B) and Ashton Smith (1-4) had Du Quoin's dozen hits.
Chandler (2-4, 2 R, 2B), Rulevish (1-4, R, 2 RBI, HR), Kling (1-3, 3 RBI), Luke (1-4, RBI) and Clayton Houghland (1-4, R) hit safely for the Panthers, who have now lost seven games in a row.
"I think we're going to be ok," Shepard said. "We've got too good of athletes on this team not to be. Didn't get a lot of breaks today, hit the ball hard and right at people sometimes. Other teams have been finding holes against us lately and ours have been finding gloves for some reason. That's just the way the baseball bounces sometimes."
Pinckneyville (7-17, 2-7) is at Red Bud on Wednesday and at New Athens on Thursday. Du Quoin (13-9, 6-3) is at Benton on Wednesday, at home against Waltonville on Thursday, and again on Friday against Anna-Jonesboro.