BASEBALL: Indians' bats go quiet in loss to Sparta
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[It was a disappointing afternoon for the DuQuoin High School Baseball Team as they lost a very close game to Sparta 2-1. The game was originally scheduled for Sparta, but their field was to wet to play on, so the game was moved to DuQuoin's field. This loss makes the Indians 8-8 overall and 2-4 in the Conference race.
DuQuoin scored their lone run in the fifth inning. Jon Boss doubled. Dylan Pyron put down a nice sacrifice bunt to move Boss. Austin Mansker hit a ball down the line (fielder's choice), and J. Boss slid under the tag at home to score. Sparta answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth (Sparta was the home team). A Darius Jackson solo home run, a single, a stolen base, and a DuQuoin error gave Sparta two runs.
Brenden Fred was the losing pitcher for DuQuoin. Fred went all seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned), had one walk, and four strikeouts.
The Indians had just five hits in the game. Mansker was 1-3 with an RBI, Nate Boss was 1-2, Travis Chapman was 1-3, Camdon Mercier was 1-3, and J. Boss was 1-2 with a double.
Coach Tim Craft was disappointed with the loss, and was quite subdued. "In a close game, we have to do the little things to win, and we did not do that today."
DuQuoin travels to Carterville on Tuesday for another conference game. On Wednesday, DuQuoin travels to Steeleville, and Thursday's game is at home with Pinckneyville. Saturday has DuQuoin on the road to Harrisburg for a doubleheader.
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