BASEBALL: Panthers can't stop Hornets' unbeaten run
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[For five innings, Pinckneyville and unbeaten Nashville played to a stalemate at 0-0 but an error and a bunt single led to a three-run homer by John Goodrich that was the difference-maker in the Hornets' 4-1 win over the Panthers at Rigdon Field.
Panthers' starter C.J. Opp pitched brilliantly for the first five innings, allowing only a first inning single and erasing that baserunner with a 4-6-3 double-play ball.
"(Nashville) hit two balls hard the entire game, that one that got out and then a single to score a run in the seventh," said PCHS head baseball coach Alan Engelhardt. "Other than that (C.J.) threw a great game. It's mistakes, we make an error to lead off the inning and then they execute a couple bunts, and then you make one mistake and that's what happens sometimes."
"That's baseball, they took advantage of our mistakes and we didn't take advantage of theirs."
Pinckneyville was without a hit until the fourth when Bryant Shute led off with a double and made it to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Joey Burris. With Opp at the plate and one out, Nashville starter Kyle Mueller threw one in the dirt that just squeaked past catcher Brock Wuebbles and Shute broke for home, but was called out despite his protest that he had avoided the tag.
Justin Grathwohl led off the sixth for the Hornettes and reached on an error by Burris, then Michael Shubert bunted him to second. Keegan Anderson also bunted, but reached safely to put runners at the corners for Goodrich.
Goodrich, who played for Engelhardt and with many of the current Panthers during Legion baseball season last summer, belted Opp's 1-0 pitch over the left field fence to break the scoreless tie.
The Panthers' best chance to score big came in the bottom of the sixth, when Dylan Hardin and Shute singled and Burris reached on an error to load the bases with just one out. Opp and Trent Hicks went down looking, however, and all three runners were stranded.
"They threw a guy that's going to pitch to contact, a guy that's not going to overwhelm you with what he can do," Engelhardt said, "and you can't strike out against a guy like that."
"We talked to the kids, the biggest difference in losing that game is when (Nashville) had a big situation, they came up with two hits and scored their four runs. When we had a big situation, I think we left seven on base, we got home once."
The Hornets tacked on another run in the seventh on an RBI single by Grathwohl.
Noah Hepp had a pinch-hit double in the bottom of the seventh and scored on a single by Hunter Queen for the Panthers' only run of the game.
Queen (2-4, RBI), Shute (2-3, 2B) and Hepp (1-1, 2B) accounted for PCHS's five hits off the lefty Mueller. Opp finished up with seven innings pitched, six hits allowed and six strikeouts.
The Panthers (7-8, 1-4) host Anna-Jonesboro on Wednesday in a Mississippi Division make-up game then travel to Du Quoin on Thursday.
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