SOFTBALL: Falcons battle their way to first State Championship

The 2015 ASA Wooden Bat State Fastpitch Championship belongs to the Pinckneyville Falcons after the local mens softball squad wrapped up a strong run to the title this past Friday and Saturday in Casey, Ill.

It's the first state championship trophy in the history of the Falcons softball team, which began in 1996 as the Radom Falcons before moving to Pinckneyville in 2009.

"We had been talking about winning a state title for a while," said Falcons player-coach Eric Saunders, "and had come close a couple of times, but we finally knocked the door down and got it done."

Bryant Hale was nearly unhittable in the pitching circle for the Falcons, allowing just seven hits and four walks in a total of 19 innings pitched over the weekend. B. Hale didn't give up a single earned run and fanned 20 batters, picking up three victories.

B. Hale may have saved his most electric performance for the tournament's finale, striking out ten and allowing three hits and a walk to lead Pinckneyville past Teutopolis Miller Lite 5-1 in the 'if necessary' game after the Falcons had dropped the first championship game between the two teams 8-1 for their only loss of the weekend.

A three-run fifth inning for Pinckneyville gave B. Hale and his defense all the insurance they needed. Already up 2-1, the Falcons got a solo homer from John Kiselewski to start the rally. Steve Linton walked in front of a single by Matt Mason and a walk to Garrick Hale to load the bases. With two outs, Bryant Shute hit a slow roller between the pitcher and third base which drew a wild throw to the plate, allowing two runs to come in to score.

"Bryant Hale was dominant for us," Saunders said. "He didn't allow an earned run all weekend. When he got in a jam he was able to wiggle his way out of it. He was throwing well and then after we got the three runs in the fifth to get a little breathing room, he pumped it up a little bit more."

Shute (1-3, 2 RBI), Saunders (1-3), Kiselewski (1-4, HR, RBI), Mason (1-1), G. Hale (1-2), Lyle Winter (2-4) and Drew Dudek (2-3) had hits for Pinckneyville in the decisive game.

"(Winter) and (Kiselewski) stepped up and hit the ball well," Saunders said. "That home run John hit was huge."

"We battled all day long. Their pitcher threw all four games for them Sunday. He kept us off-balance with a lot of off-speed pitches, but we made some adjustments with our approach at the plate and it paid off."

That win completed what was, in a sense, a three-game series between Pinckneyville and T-Town Miller Lite on Sunday. In the winner's bracket final, the Falcons and B. Hale shut out T-Town 2-0, getting both of their runs in the top of the sixth inning.

Kiselewski started that rally, too, singling before Drew Dudek beat out a bunt to put two runners on. Both men advanced on a wild pitch, then Shute - just like in the championship game - hit a slow ground ball to the left side of the infield. Alan Engelhardt, who scored running for Linton during the Falcon's key rally in the tournament finale, was running for Kiselewski in this situation and beat the throw home on Shute's RBI. Dudek later scored on a fielder's choice RBI by Lyle Winter.

Linton (1-3), Kiselewski (2-2) and Dudek (1-3) had the four hits for Pinckneyville in the first meeting with Teutopolis Miller Lite.

Hale went the distance, giving up three hits and two free passes with five K's.

The middle game of the eventual three-game set went to T-Town, 8-1, with Troy Downen getting tagged with the loss on the rubber. Winter (1-3), Mason (1-2), Kiselewski (1-2), Adam Barczewski (1-1) and Hayden Hicks (1-2, RBI) had hits for the Falcons.

Pinckneyville got to Sunday with a pair of lopsided thrashings on Saturday. Up first in the quarterfinal round was an 8-1 win over Springfield Franny's where B. Hale started his stellar weekend with a five-inning one-hitter. The big right-hander issued one walk and struck out five.

Shute (1-2, SB), Saunders (1-1, RBI), Hicks (2-3, HR, 2 RBI), Linton (1-2), Winter (2-3, 2 HR, 4 RBI), Kiselewski (1-1) and Daniel Eisenhauer (1-2) supplied the offense.

In the winner's bracket semifinals, the Falcons took out the Tampico Hatteco Trojans 7-1 behind Downen's complete game. Downen gave up one earned run on six hits and a walk with five strikeouts, sending Pinckneyville to Sunday at 2-0. Shute (1-4, 2 R, HR, RBI), Saunders (1-3), Eisenhauer (2-2, 2 RBI), Linton (1-2, RBI), Winter (1-4, RBI) and Barczewski (1-1) hit safely for the eventual state champs.

"We played very well this weekend," said Saunders. "A lot of different guys contributed in a lot of different ways. We found ways to score and got a huge break along the way."

The Falcons (19-10) will get an opportunity to add a second state championship to their season when they travel to Forsyth for the ASA Mens Open State Tournament July 31 through August 2.