SOFTBALL: Hill, Lady Warriors shut out Benton; split at Marion
Five hits were enough to send Du Quoin to a six-inning shutout of Benton on Monday, as the Lady Warriors took advantage of four first-inning errors by the Rangerettes and drew nine walks while four batters were hit by pitches in the 10-0 rout.
DMS piled on six unearned runs in the bottom of the first to put the pressure on the Rangerettes early, getting three of those runs on wild pitches. That gave starting pitcher Chloe Hill more than enough to work with in the circle, as Hill allowed just one hit and a pair of walks while striking out nine to pick up her second victory of the season.
After scoring without an official hit in the first, DMS later got hits from Hill (1-3, BB), Katie Smith (1-3, R, RBI, 2B, BB), Maci Mckinnies (1-3, R, HBP), Morgan Bullar (1-3, 2 R, RBI, BB) and Arrah Barwick (1-3, R, BB).
"I thought we played a very good game defensively and Hill was very sharp in the circle," said head coach Jason James. "We are struggling a little at the plate, but we will get better as the year goes on."
DMS (2-1) is on the road this Thursday at Chester (4:00 p.m.).
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Lady Warriors split a pair at season-opening tournament</span>
The Lady Warriors split a pair of games in their season-opening tournament at Marion on Saturday, beating Herrin 7-2 before dropping a 6-2 decision to Goreville. Both were five-inning games.
While most of the early damage against Herrin was done taking advantage of walks and wild pitches, DMS third baseman Morgan Bullar delivered a two-run triple in the bottom of the fourth inning to help put the game out of reach.
Bullar (1-2, R, 2 RBI, 3B, BB), Katie Smith (1-3), Chloe Hill (1-3, 2B) and Avery Waller (2-2) each had hits in the win over Herrin.
Hill also picked up the win in the pitching circle, allowing no earned runs and three hits plus a walk while striking out nine batters.
Game two saw Goreville get six hits and two walks off of Hill in their 6-2 win over the Lady Warriors. DMS also had six hits, but but stranded four of those base runners and didn't score until their final at-bat.
Smith (1-3), Bullar (1-3), Waller (1-2, R), Maci Mckinnies (2-3, 2B, RBI) and Chloe Hess (1-2, R) had hits for Du Quoin.
"Not bad for our first day out," said Lady Warriors head coach Jason James. "Hill pitched very well both games and kept us in the second game. Waller, Mckinnies and Bullar had a good day at the plate."
"We will continue to work and get better every time out. I was able to get all my 8th and 7th graders in today and see what they could do. All in all not bad."
The Lady Warriors (1-1) return to the field on Monday at Benton for a 4:00 p.m. first pitch.