BASEBALL: Pinckneyville-Du Quoin claims championship of 25th District
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[A day after wrapping up a spot in next week's senior Division Tournament at Metropolis, Pinckneyville-Du Quoin American Legion Posts 2504 & 647 wrapped up the championship of the 25th District on Monday, topping Marion 15-5 in seven innings to claim the hardware behind a complete game from right-hander Dylan Meier.
Along with the District Championship, Posts 2504 & 647 also earn the top seed from the 25th District in the 5th Division Tournament.
"Both teams were advancing, but you still want to win it, you still want to win it without having someone give it to you," said Pinckneyville-Du Quoin head coach Derek Beninati. "We did a great job of coming out and taking care of business. Getting that No. 1 seed means a little bit."
Top-seeded Marion had just dismissed third-seeded Sparta in the 5:00 p.m. game on Monday in temperatures that pushed 100 degrees, and it looked as though Pinckneyville-Du Quoin was going to roll over Post 147 after getting three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Craig Dahlman drove in Bryant Shute and Brandon George with a one-out double, then tournament MVP Adam Barczewski grounded to short to bring home Dahlman a few moments later for a 3-0 lead.
Marion responded in the second inning, though, managing three hits and a walk to tie the game despite Meier striking out the side. Post 147 grabbed the lead 5-3 mid-third inning after an error and two walks led to a pair of runs in the top of that frame.
Meier would settle down after that, and his offense refused to let Marion force a second game in the tournament finals by exploding for multiple runs in each of the next four innings.
George and Dahlman walked to start the bottom of the third, then Trent Bigham connected for one of his three hits and an RBI when George touched home for a 4-3 lead. Barczewski followed with another sacrifice and RBI, then Marian Brammeier made it 6-3 when he singled home Bigham with two outs.
Taylor Beninati doubled to lead of the bottom of the fourth and then traded places with Bryce Harre, who doubled him in for a 7-3 advantage for Posts 2504 & 647. Shute drove Harre in with a single then later scored to make it 9-3.
Pinckneyville-Du Quoin added four more in the fifth and two in the sixth, and after Meier fanned Nick Dean and Alex Andros with two on in the seventh, Posts 2504 & 647 celebrated the first Division Tournament appearance for the Pinckneyville-based team since 1995.
"We haven't had that in a while, it's nice to get one," Beninati said of the District Championship. "I knew all year these kids could do it, we came together at the right time of the year. (We) got hot late, throwing the ball well, hitting the ball well, feeling good about going into next week."
On paper, Pinckneyville-Du Quoin may not have had the look of a champion coming into the District Tournament as the bottom seed. But, with a roster stacked full of All-SIRR and All-South talent, it was only a matter of time before the results started to match the hype.
"We had a lot of rainouts and didn't have a lot of games scheduled (this regular season)," Beninati said. "I think (our recent success is) more about playing a lot more often, back to back days, staying in the flow of things, keeping momentum going, stuff like that. We didn't come ready to play a lot in the first game (of doubleheaders) during the regular season, we'd come back and get the second game, but it didn't mean a lot in the District."
Harre capped off an 8-for-18 District Tournament with a 3-for-4 (3 R, 3 RBI, 2B, BB) showing in the championship. Bigham (3-3, R, RBI, BB), Shute (2-5, 3 R, RBI) and Brammeier (2-4, R, RBI) also had multiple hits. George (1-3, 2 R, RBI, BB), Dahlman (1-2, 2 R, RBI, BB), and Beninati (1-2, 3 R, 2B, 2 BB) rounded out the hitting for Posts 2504 & 647.
Barczewski was held 0-for-2, but drove in a pair of runs to wrap up the tournament 7-for-16 with 5 runs scored and 8 driven in, catching all five games of the bracket in blistering temperatures.
"Catching every game in that heat is tough to do, and he stayed on top of it," Beninati said.
Meier went all 7 innings, struck out 11 and allowed 4 earned runs on 9 hits and 4 walks to pick up the win.
Pinckneyville-Du Quoin's next opponent and game time have yet to be determined, but will be published as soon as they are available.
<element id="paragraph-1" type="body"></element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ <element id="paragraph-1" type="body"></element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ <element id="paragraph-1" type="body"></element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ <element id="paragraph-1" type="body"></element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[</group><group id="13639371-0571-47C4-83B1-8156E8B1804B" type="seoLabels"><se