The Road to Joliet: Panthers are regional champs
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Bouyed by the standout pitching of sophomore lefty C.J. Opp , timely hitting and stellar defense, Pinckneyville Community High School's baseball team is Class 2A regional champions for the third time in five years.
Saturday morning, the rock-solid Panthers (18-14) surprised top seed and arch-rival Du Quoin in the finals of Nashville's regional.
The score was 7-1 as Pinckneyville moves into Thursday's Alton Marquette Sectional where they'll fase the Freeburg vs. Columbia winner at 4;30.
Monday in Red Bud, the two longtime Cahokia Conference rivals decide that title.
Opp (6-2) gave Du Quoin (22-13) just four hits while striking out three. He threw 81 pitches.
"Man, he threw one heck of a game," PCHS coach Alan Engelhardt said. "He's doesn't throw real hard and is kind of underrated. He kept the ball down and was gutsy. Gutsy is a good way to describe him."
Pinckneyville all but decided things in the first inning, scoring four times against Du Quoin ace Trent Bigham (9-3).
After retiring the first two hitters, Bigham surrendered four runs on three hits. He also walked three conseuctive hitters, forcing home a pair of runs.
Freshman Dylan Hardin then knocked in two more runs with a single.
The lead reached 5-0 in the second when Landon Chandler doubled and came around on Matthew Nichols' basehit.
In the fourth, Adam Barczewski (2-for-3) two-run double made the score 7-0 to chase Bigham.
Du Quoin managed singles by J.C. Davis, Sam Gossett and Seth Baxter.
The lone run came on Tyler Shelton's solo home run to leadoff the sixth. Du Quoin had runners on base in all but one inning, but could never break through against Opp.
Shelton, Andrew Riley and Kyle Kelley played their final games as Indian seniors. Shelton's home run-a line shot over the 375-foot fence in centerfield-came on his final high school swing.
"I had a great group of seniors," Indians coach Tim Craft said. "They were kind of our anchors for this year and we'll really miss them."
Du Quoin does return 17 of its 20 players who dressed for Saturday's final next spring.