PINCKNEYVILLE BASEBALL: Panther Win Streak Snapped

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Nashville kept pace with Du Quoin in the race for River-to-River Conference supremacy in the Mississippi Division Tuesday afternoon.

The Hornets (14-7, 4-2) slipped past host Pinckneyville 4-3 at Rigdon Field, remaining percentage points behind the front-running Indians (6-2) as the baseball title chase enters its final days.

Anna-Jonesboro (5-3) dropped a game behind the co-leaders following a shocking 4-3 loss to Sparta.

Pinckneyville (10-10, 2-6) saw a pair of leads-one early and the last in the sixth inning-slip away against Nashville.

The loss also snapped a six-game winning streak.

"This is one we just let get away from us," Panthers coach Alan Engelhardt said. "We led for most of the game and did a good pitching, but we just didn't have the kind of at-bats we needed."

Ryan Ryterski, a soft-tossing lefty, held Pinckneyville to just five hits.

In the opening inning, Brandon Long worked Ryterski for a walk and came around to score on an error. Later in the frame, Bryant Shute tripled home Garrick Hale.

With the score knotted at 2-2 in the home half of the fourth, PCHS took its last lead. A sacrifice fly from Matthew Nichols pushed the Panthers ahead, scoring Adam Barczewski.

Nashville then won the game with two runs in the sixth, produced by hits from Michael Wilson and Greg Guest.

Hale pitched all seven innings for Pinckneyville. He struck out four and walked one. Hale (2-2) gave just six hits.

Hale, Michael Rakers, Barczewski and Jeff Thornton joined Shute in the PCHS hit parade.

"A day after having such aggressive cuts at the plate on pitches we could drive (15-2 win over Sparta), we came back and were really on our heels, " admitted Engelhardt. "Hopefully we'll get right back up on the horse and start another little winning streak."

Pinckneyville plays at Waltonville Thursday. Wednesday's game with Benton was rained out.

Nashville 4, PCHS 3

Nashville 001 012 0-4 6 1

PCHS 200 010 0-3 5 3

Ryterski and Hale. Hale and Barczewski. WP-Ryterski. LP-Hale, 2-3. TOP HITTERS-PCHS: Hale 1-4, Rakers 1-4, Shute 1-3 (3B, RBI), Barczewski 1-3, Thornton 1-2, Nichols 0-2 (RBI). NASHVILE: Meyer 2-2, Dalman 1-4 (HR, RBI).