BASEBALL: Wildcats spoil Chapman's return for PCHS
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Pinckneyville got right-hander Evan Chapman back on the hill Wednesday, but couldn't get back into the win column in Mississippi Division play against Anna-Jonesboro. Wildcats ace Brady Wright allowed six hits in a complete game victory as A-J knocked off the Panthers 5-2 at Rigdon Field.
"That game was lost in the first two innings where we had the bases loaded twice and didn't push anything across," said PCHS head baseball coach Alan Engelhardt.
"The thing the kids need to understand, if you get one each inning and you don't give them their first run, which was unearned, that's a win for you all of a sudden."
Wright wasn't flawless, but did pitch a solid game for A-J. The tall righty only struck out three and walked two, but much like on Tuesday against Nashville, the Panthers couldn't get the big hit to spark the big inning.
"That's the thing we talked to them about, (Wright is) one of the best if not the best you're going to see this year, so any time you get a chance you've got to capitalize," Engelhardt said. "That's what we're not doing right now for whatever reason."
Joey Burris and C.J. Opp both singled with two down in the bottom of the first, then Chapman was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but Noah Hepp grounded to second to end the threat.
A-J got a run in the second, thanks in part to an error and a wild pitch, then the Panthers again threatened in the bottom half when Marian Brammeier walked and Hunter Queen and Bryant Shute singled to fill the sacks once more with two outs. Burris grounded to first, and through two innings the Panthers had already left six men on base.
A pair of singles off Chapman put A-J on top 2-0 after the top of the third before Hepp drove in Opp for the Panthers' first run in the bottom half.
Queen reached on a dropped third strike in the bottom of the fourth and later scored on a grounder by Burris to tie the game at 2-2, but the Wildcats would push ahead for good in the fifth. Brent Taylor walked and Wright tripled to bring him in for a 3-2 A-J lead, the Tyler Vaughn added some insurance with his RBI single to plate Wright.
The Wildcats tacked on another in the sixth off of reliever Justin Bumann while Pinckneyville failed to get a runner past first base after the fourth.
"I think the last two days our effort has been better, our focus has been better, our pitching has been pretty good," Engelhardt said. "Again today, one or two defensive lapses that hurt us, like yesterday. We're a couple plays away from winning games and that's what we've got to figure out."
Shute (2-4), Queen (1-4, R), Burris (1-4, RBI), Opp (1-3, BB, R) and Hepp (1-4, RBI) had the hits for Pinckneyville.
Chapman, making his first appearance on the mound since March 28, allowed four earned runs on six hits and five walks with four strikeouts in five innings pitched. Bumann surrendered one earned run on four hits and two walks in his two innings of work.
"(Getting Chapman healthy) gives us more depth in the batting order and gives us another top-of-the-rotation guy where now everybody kind of slides into the role we intended at the beginning of the year," Engelhardt said.
"For him this was like a first start of the year because it's been four weeks since he's thrown to batters. He had one other start and hurt his ribs in the first inning of that start. Today was really what you consider his first real action, and to just jump into it without having thrown to hitters, I was really pleased with what he gave us today."
The Panthers (7-9, 1-5) travel to Du Quoin (10-8, 3-4) on Thursday.
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