SOFTBALL: Lady Tigers finish off New Hope to advance

The Lady Tigers put it on New Hope 13-2 in Saturday's SIJHSAA Class S State softball quarterfinal, racking up 15 hits and getting a two-hitter from Megan Englehardt in the pitching circle.

Pinckneyville District #204 advances to the state semifinals on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. in Coulterville against New Athens.

It was all #204 right from the get-go on Saturday. The Tigers scored four times in the top of the first inning and never trailed. Anna Pestka singled with one out, and Lauren Jackson (single), Olivia Buza (HBP), Miranda Skorch (RBI single) and Cheyenne Pauley (single) all reached base with two outs.

Up 7-2 in the top of the third, Pinckneyville put together another four-run frame. Engelhardt and Pestka started things off with singles, then Jackson and Buza added one-out base hits in front of a three-run triple by Skorch.

Pestka (double) and Aubrey Bruns (single) added RBIs in the top of the fifth, then Englehardt stranded a pair of New Hope runners in the bottom of the inning to complete the five-inning short game win for #204.

Engelhardt (3-4, R), Pestka (3-4, 3 R, RBI, 2B), Bruns (1-4, RBI), Jackson (3-4, 3 R), Buza (2-3, 3 R, HBP), Skorch (2-4, R, 4 RBI, 3B) and Pauley (1-3) each had hits for the Lady Tigers. Engelhardt allowed two hits, four walks and struck out seven.