Girls Prep Softball: Chapman's Debut Nearly Perfect

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Emily Chapman's first varsity start for Pinckneyville Community High School's Softball team couldn't have gone any better Saturday.

Striking out nine batters, Chapman tossed a nifty no-hitter to blank Class 3A Breese Mater Dei 7-0 at Greg Hale Field in the final game of the 2009 Lady Panther Spring Fling.

PCHS blanked Red Bud, 2-0, to start the day. Mater Dei later handed Red Bud a 14-0 loss.

With a 2-0 record, the Lady Panthers host Wesclin at 4:30 Monday.

"Chapman had pretty good command of her pitches," PCHS coach Greg Hale said. "To play who she was playing against and to pitch that way was a pretty outstanding performance."

Mater Dei was a 20-game winner and 3A regional titlist last year and returned most of its roster Saturday.

Ahead 2-0, PCHS put things away with a five-run fifth.

Nicole Cheek, Maddy Keith and Dani Jenkel contributed RBI hits for the Lady Panthers.

Cheek and Keith enjoyed two hit games with Keith knocking in two runs. Chapman, Mo Ramsey and Dani Jenkel also hit safely.

"Mater Dei was a good team," Hale said. "And a good out of area team for us to play. What a great job by Chapman in her first varsity starter. Mater Dei only had two baserunners. I thought we played a very complete game."

In the opener, PCHS scored twice in the sixth inning to fight back Red Bud.

Sara Malanowski and Kelsey Cicardi combined on a four-hitter with nine strikeouts.

Malanowski worked the first four frames before giving way to Cicardi (1-0).

At the plate, Chapman and Jenkek knocked in the lone PCHS runs. Ramsey was 2-for-4 with Mandi Kellerman (double) and Keith also hitting safely.

"We played a good all-around game against Red Bud," Hale said. "Defensively I thought we played well in some pressure situations. However, there were opportunities there for us offensively that we just didn't take advantage of."