SOFTBALL: DHS claims Mulberry Grove hardware
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Coach Jason James was well pleased with the way his DuQuoin High School softball team played on Saturday at Mulberry Grove. The first game of the tournament had DHS beating Breese Mater Dei 15-4 in six innings.
James said, "we got down 2-0 after the first inning and just exploded after that, putting up a 7 spot in the second and a 6 spot in the third. I was really happy with the way we went up to the plate and made adjustments. Rice pitched well, and we had big hits from almost everyone."
Cassidy Rice was the winning pitcher. She went six innings allowing 4 earned runs with six hits, had 9 strikeouts, and walked 3. Her record after this game was 6-0.
Kelsey Toler was 2-4 including a double with 4 RBI. Jessica Hirsch was 2-4 with 2 RBI. Kelsey Robinson was 2-4 with an RBI. Hadley Marek was 1-4 with an RBI. Cassidy Rice was 2-4 with a triple and an RBI. Magen Edwards was 1-3 with an RBI. Katrina Whitley was 1-3. Ashley Ward was 2-3 with a triple and
2 RBI. Jessy Wallace was 2-4 with an RBI. Curry Emling was the flex on defense.
DuQuoin moved on to play Greenville in the championship game defeating them 9-2. DuQuoin jumped out to an early lead scoring six runs in the first inning. Cassidy Rice pitched this game also. She went seven innings allowing 2 runs (1 unearned), 4 hits, had 7 strikeouts, and walked 3. Her record moves to 7-0 on the season. The team record is now 10-0.
Kelsey Toler was 2-4 with a double. Kelsey Robinson was 2-3 with a double and an RBI. Hadley Marek was 3-4 with an RBI. Cassidy Rice was 1-4 with 2 RBI. Magen Edwards was 2-4. Ashley Ward was 2-4 with a triple and 3 RBI. Jessy Wallace was 1-4 with an RBI. Others seeing playing time were Jessica Hirsch, Curry Emling, Katrina Whitley, and Bri Green.
Coach James thought that "Rice pitched very well, and we really hit the ball hard all day long. I am very proud on how the girls have been working to improve every day, and it has shown with their play. Hopefully, we can keep this momentum going into next week when we start conference play--should be a lot of good games."
DuQuoin's schedule for the upcoming week is absolutely loaded. All four teams the No. 15 Indians will meet are either ranked in the top 20 by the ICA in the latest poll or are receiving votes.
Monday has DuQuoin (10-0) traveling to Sparta for their first conference game. On Tuesday, DuQuoin travels to No. 7 Carterville for another conference contest. Wednesday has DuQuoin at No. 20 Johnston City, then Friday is a home game with current No. 1 Pinckneyville (another conference game), though the Panthers (12-1) will likely surrender that spot following their loss to unbeaten Columbia on Saturday.