BASEBALL: Wildcats power past Warriors into championship
Marion had too much firepower in their lineup for Du Quoin on Tuesday, as the Wildcats racked up 14 hits and out-slugged the Warriors 8-2 in the SIJHSAA Class L State baseball semifinals.
Marion's Cavan Cameron allowed just one earned run on six hits while striking out five in his complete-game victory for the Wildcats.
Du Quoin had a 1-0 lead through a half inning, scoring in the top of the first when Brian Winters started the game with a triple and scored on Alex Zimmerman's ground-out RBI.
The lead lasted all of four Marion batters, as Drake Gravatt and Parker Holland reached base with hits and scored on back-to-back sacrifice flies by Josh Griffin and Josh Schmid to put the Wildcats up 2-1 against Zimmerman, Du Quoin's starter on the mound.
"Against a team like Marion, any mistake can get quickly amplified," said DMS head coach Tim Craft. "We had some opportunities to make a play to cut off a big inning but just couldn't get it done. Alex threw well enough to keep us in the game, we just didn't play well behind him."
Marion kept coming in the bottom of the second inning, smacking four hits including RBIs from Gravatt (triple) and Holland (single).
The Warriors halved the lead in the top of the third when Winters singled and later scored on an error, but Du Quoin would come up empty on offense the rest of the way.
The Wildcats (23-1) tacked on insurance runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to cement their spot in Thursday's championship game at 3 p.m. in Centralia. The Warriors (19-4) will have to settle for the third place game at 1 p.m.
"Hopefully we can bounce back and play a good game on Thursday," Craft said. "We have an opportunity to finish third and a chance to get to 20 wins. Both would be big accomplishments."
Winters (2-3, 2 R, 3B), Zimmerman (1-3, RBI), Slade West (1-3), Owen Bradley (1-3) and Konner Harris (1-3) had Du Quoin's six hits.
Gravatt (3-4, 4 R, RBI, 2B, 3B), Holland (3-4, R, RBI), Griffin (2-4, R, 3 RBI), Frankie Horner (2-4, R, RBI, 2B), Lucas Will (2-4) and Jordan Cook (1-3) had hits for the Wildcats.