The Road to Joliet: Indians hang on for regional final return

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[As expected, top-seeded Du Quoin secured its spot in the finals of the Nashville Class 2A baseball regional. But advancement certianly didn't come without a fight.

The Tribe, 22-12, won the game 7-6 on Andrew Riley's seventh inning RBI single, returning to the regional finals for the seventh time in the past eight years.

Du Quoin will face Perry County rival Pinckneyville (17-14), which defeated Nashville 7-3 in Wednesday's second semfinal.

With heavy rains in the forecast for Thursday, both sides agreed to move the Panthers vs. Hornets contest up one day.

At 11 a.m. Saturday, the championship game will be played. The winner moves into next week's Alton Marquette sectional.

Trailing 6-2, Sparta scored four times in the top of the seventh to knot things. Only two of the runs were earned to chase Du Quoin starter Brandon George.

George received no decision, striking out 10 and not issuing a walk.

Trent Bigham (9-2) entered with one down in the seventh, but was touched for a pair of runs. He struck out two and started Du Quoin's seventh by reaching after being hit by a pitch.

Sam Gossett hit into a fielders choice for the first out and went to third on Seth Baxter's single. Riley then singled over the centerfielder's head for the deciding run.

"Andrew Riley came up big for us," said Craft. "He started one rally with two outs and then had the game-winner."

Baxter gave Du Quoin its first lead in the fourth with a two-run double from Baxter.

With two outs in the sixth-and the game tied at 2-2-Indian senior Tyler Shelton ripped a bases loaded double to push Du Quoin ahead 5-2. he then scored the sixth run on George's single.

The rally came with two outs as Riley walked, Kegan Robbins singled and J.C. Davis walked. Shelton then belted the first pitch into the right centerfield gap, clearing the bases.

"Shelton came up huge for us again," said Craft. "I feel good about our comeback but feel badly for George. He had good stuff on the mound. We just didn't not make the plays behind him. He really deserved to win this game."

Du Quoin out-hit Sparta 12-9 with Riley going 3-for-3.

Baxter and Shelton each had two hits with Davis also joining the hit parade.