SOFTBALL: Lady Panthers hang on to top W-S-V, win Regional championship

Waltonville-Sesser-Valier had the tying run on base twice in the late innings of Saturday's Class 2A Softball Regional championship game at Du Quoin, but both times Pinckneyville found ways to get out of the jam and the Lady Panthers held on for a 3-1 victory to earn a spot in Tuesday's Sectional semifinals in Carterville.

PCHS's Maddie Jones had the big hit for the Lady Panthers, a two-run double in the bottom of the third inning to give pitcher Brooklyn Morrow some breathing room in the circle. Morrow allowed only one earned run on four hits, walked two and struck out two to pick up the win.

"When she needed to make pitches, she made pitches," said Pinckneyville head coach Alan Engelhardt. "She was really locked in against the top of their order and did a really nice job throwing to their kids who can really hit. She gave up a little bit to some of the lower kids in the order, but was able to fight out of it."

"I thought, to go with that, our defense was really good. They had a second and third, nobody out, and didn't score. They had a first and third with one out in the seventh and didn't score. You put yourself in a scenario where one run in each of those spots and you're tied, so I thought our defense made plays when they needed to as well. I thought we were pretty darn solid."

Batting leadoff, Morrow drew a walk in the bottom of the first inning in front of Kylee Kling, who was hit by a pitch from Waltonville hurler Gretchen Witter. After Jones grounded out to first, Emma Banach grounded to second for a fielder's choice that got an out at the plate and put runners at the corners. Kling then scored when Banach stole second and the throw short-hopped the shortstop, who was looking to cut it off to prevent the run from coming in from third.

"They were going to walk (Morrow)," Engelhardt said of the strategy to hit his slugger in the leadoff spot. "That ends up being a run to start the game when they walk her and Kylee gets hit by a pitch. I know Kylee is the one that ultimately scored, but she scored because of the runner on base in front of her."

The Lady Spartans did pitch to Morrow in the third inning with one out and Caitie Opp at first base following a four-pitch walk. Morrow burned them with a double, and after Kling popped out to short, Jones delivered her two-out, two-run, two-bagger to make it 3-0 Pinckneyville.

"(Jones) did a nice job of staying on it and hit a big two-run double there," said Englehardt. "Brooklyn had the big double right before that. Caitie Opp, again, getting on base, she has been tremendous for us here at the end of the year."

Hannah Witter tripled with one out in the top of the fourth for W-S-V, then scored on a ground-out to first base to cut the lead to 3-1. The Lady Panthers then loaded the bases in the fourth, but were unable to score.

Back-to-back doubles by Olivia Massie and Jessie Eubanks started the Spartans' fifth, but did not result in a run when Massie's pinch runner stopped at third base. The next three batters couldn't get the ball out of the infield, allowing Morrow to escape unharmed. G. Witter (double) and Eubanks (walk) were on base in the seventh for Waltonville-Sesser-Valier, but again Morrow and the PCHS defense came through with some big outs.

Morrow (1-2, 2B, BB), Kling (1-2, R, HBP), Jones (1-3, 2 RBI, 2B), Banach (1-3, 2B), Josie Gleason (1-3) and Kearsten Opp (1-3) had hits for Pinckneyville.

H. Witter (1-3, R, 3B), G. Witter (1-3, 2B), Massie (1-3, 2B) and Eubanks (1-2, 2B, BB) hit safely for the Lady Spartans.

The Lady Panthers (24-9) now get a third opportunity against Nashville. The Hornettes swept the two conference match-ups between the schools during the regular season.

"You need a good start to the game," Engelhardt said. "You need to build some confidence that you can play with them. If you go up and strike out a lot early, then you start wondering if you can hit (Ingram). You need a solid start, and you need to put the ball in play. Make them field the ball a little bit, make them make plays. She's such a good pitcher and strikes out so many kids that the defense doesn't get tested as much, so test them a little bit."

First pitch of Tuesday's Sectional semifinal at Carterville is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. The winner will take on either Carmi-White County or Carterville in Saturday's 11:00 a.m. championship.