BASEBALL: Late rally falls short, Panthers knocked out
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Pinckneyville stormed back from a 7-0 deficit and had the tying runs on base in both the sixth and seventh innings on Wednesday, but couldn't get the big hit to keep their season alive. Sparta knocked the Panthers out of the Class 2A Pinckneyville Baseball Regional with a 7-5 decision to put the Bulldogs in Saturday's championship against either Du Quoin or Nashville.
"Unfortunately in the postseason, one bad game means your season is over," said PCHS head baseball coach Alan Engelhardt. "I made the mistake of trying to get by without throwing (Evan) Chapman today so we would have a shot later in the week, but it bit us as Sparta jumped out to seven early runs before I got Evan in."
Sparta jumped on the Panthers right away, as a single, two walks and an error allowed the bases to be loaded with two outs for Justin Meyerhoff, who belted a grand slam for a 4-0 Bulldogs lead after the top of the first inning.
In the second inning it was Dalton Robert's turn to go deep, as he took Justin Bumann yard for a two-run shot after Bumann had relieved PCHS starter Joey Burris.
The Bulldogs added on another run in the top of the third without registering a hit and were in command up seven runs.
Marian Brammeier drove in the Panthers' first run in the bottom of the third, singling home Matthew Nichols. Pinckneyville got another tally in the fourth when Adam Barczewski scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-2.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Panthers mounted a two-out rally when Brandon Long was hit by a pitch, then Bryant Shute singled to set up Nichols' 2-RBI base hit. C.J. Opp followed with a double to score Nichols, then Brammeier walked, but Champan grounded to first to end the threat.
Taylor Beninati and Long both walked in the seventh, but Shute flied out to center with two outs to end the game and the top-seeded Panthers' season.
"The bottom line is Sparta just made more plays than us today. They drove in runs when they were in scoring position, hitting two home runs, while we left 14 stranded, and they robbed a home run and knocked down another potentially run scoring hit."
Once in the game, Chapman shut down the Bulldogs' offense with four innings of work, no runs allowed on three hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
Opp led the way for PCHS at the dish with a perfect 3-for-3 (BB, 2B, RBI) performance, and the Panthers' only extra-base hit. Shute (2-5, R), Nichols (1-4, 2R, 2 RBI), Brammeier (1-2, 2 BB, RBI), Bumann (1-2) and Beninati (1-2, BB) also had hits.
"Even though the season didn't end the way we wanted it to, I hope the boys keep their heads up as we had a solid 20-11 record and won conference for only the third time in school history," Engelhardt said. His Panthers finished the season with a record of 20-11.
Sparta will take on the winner of Thursday's other semifinal between Nashville and Du Quoin on Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. at Rigdon Field in Pinckneyville.
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