BASEBALL: Carter flirts with no-no, Panthers beat Marissa

Pinckneyville's Hayden Carter had a no-hitter going through five and a third innings before finishing off Marissa with a one-hitter in Thursday's home game for the Panthers, who knocked off the Meteors 6-2 at Rigdon Field for their tenth win of the season.

Carter walked five and struck out eleven, including the final five Marissa batters of the game.

"Hayden's another one of those guys that you can count on to throw strikes," said Pinckneyville head coach Gabe Shepard. "He doesn't overpower people, but he's got a good, big curveball that keeps hitters off balance and makes his fastball seem a little faster. He gets ahead and that's key."

The Panthers had only six hits on offense, but that was plenty for Carter. The scoring began in the bottom of the second inning with three consecutive hits for PCHS by Clayton Houghland (single), Adam Banach (single) and Trent Hicks (RBI double), and Caleb Dahn later drove in a run with a ground-out to make it 2-0 Pinckneyville.

Tyler Rulevish smacked a solo homer in the bottom of the third to make it 3-0, then doubled in Jackson Brand (walk) in the fifth for his second hit of the day. Hicks added a sacrifice fly in the three-run frame for PCHS.

"When (Rulevish) stays up and stays positive, he can hit with anybody," Shepard said. "He's got quick hands, he's got good baseball sense. He made a diving play in the first inning that I don't know how he got to the ball. When he's right, he's good."

Carter's only jam came in the sixth after he gave up a one-out single and proceeded to walk the next three hitters. The righty rebounded, though, fanning five straight to get the Panthers a much-needed win following a disappointing loss at West Frankfort the previous afternoon.

"(Carter) knew what was going on," said Shepard. "I could tell by the look on his face that he knew he'd lost a no-hitter. It took him two or three batters there to get his composure back, and once he finally did, he settled back in and got out of the inning."

"Anytime you get a win it's big, but after a disappointing loss like we had (Wednesday), we really needed to come out and do something today, especially on Senior Day. They responded. It's been a trying season, but it's not over with yet. we can still battle, there can be as many games left as we want there to be."

Rulevish (2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B, HR) and Houghland (2-2, R, HBP) both had a pair of hits for the Panthers.

"Clayton Houghland has been swinging the bat extremely well," Shepard said. "He's really solidified the middle of our order for us."

Pinckneyville (10-18) is scheduled to travel to Greenville on Saturday for the Ish Smith Tournament. They'll face off with Du Quoin on Monday in the Class 2A Regional on the Indians home turf.