SOFTBALL: Falcons 2-3 in Terry Deering tournament; Kelso wins crown
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[A walk-off home run by Justin Jackson on Saturday night against Villa Grove extended the Falcons' 2012 Terry Deering Memorial Mens Fastpitch Softball tournament life into Sunday, but Pinckneyville fell 13-2 in a rematch with Pete's Blues to finish the event with a 2-3 mark.
"We played well Friday night but after that it wasn't very pretty," said Falcons' head coach Eric Saunders. "We had a nice comeback Saturday night to stay alive. Jackson has been swinging the bat well lately."
Kelso Fastpitch took home the tournament championship after beating the Stallions in the if necessary game behind most valuable pitcher of the event, Tom Jansen. The Stallions' Mike Klein took home most valuable player.
Haven Hicks (1-2), Lyle Winter (1-3) and Bryant Shute (1-2, HR, 2 RBI) had hits for the Falcons in Sunday's loss to Pete's.
"Shute has done a nice job for us," Saunders said. "We're going to to find a spot for him to play when he's available to us."
Pinckneyville held off Donnewald Budweiser 7-5 in Friday's tournament opener for both teams.
Saunders (2-4) helped spark a five-run first inning for the Falcons with a two-out, two-run triple to bring in Matt Mason (2-4, 2 2B, RBI) and Winter (1-4). Ricky Kasban (1-3, BB) followed with an RBI single and Jackson (1-3, BB) drove in two with his first home run of the weekend for a 5-2 lead.
Adam Barczewski (3-3, 2B) added an RBI single in the third and Haven Hicks (1-4) belted a solo homer in the sixth. John Kiselewski struck out nine and allowed seven hits, picking up the win.
Pinckneyville returned at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday when they were shut out by the eventual tournament champions, Kelso, 9-0. Jackson (1-2) had the Falcons' only hit.
The loss dropped the Falcons into their first matchup with Pete's, a game where they led 3-0 before an error opened the door for a five-run fifth for the Blues. Pete's went on to win 5-4 after a seventh-inning rally fell short for Pinckneyville.
Winter (1-4) doubled to give the Falcons' a 1-0 lead after one, then Saunders (1-3) scored on a ground-out RBI by Trent Bigham in the second to make it 2-0. Haven Hicks (1-3, 3B, BB, 2 RBI) added an RBI single in the third to score Derek Beninati (2-4).
Down 5-3, The Falcons tried to come back with two outs in the seventh when Haven Hicks smacked an RBI triple to the right-center field gap to bring in Taylor Beninati, who was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Winter then flew out to center to end threat.
Garrick Hale (2-3) also hit safely for Pinckneyville.
Saturday night's win-or-go-home matchup with Villa Grove appeared to be over when the Hurricanes built a 9-4 lead which they carried into the bottom of the sixth inning.
Haven Hicks (3-4) singled and scored in the sixth, but the Falcons were still down four runs with three outs to go. Hicks would again play a big role in the seventh, tripling to make it a 9-8 game before Jackson's opposite-field bomb two batters later ended it 10-9 for Pinckneyville.
In addition to Haven Hicks' three-hit effort, Jackson (2-4, HR), Saunders (2-2, 2 2B, 2 BB), Winter (1-4, HR) and Shute (1-3, 2B) also had hits for the Falcons against the Hurricanes.
This weekend, Pinckneyville is off to Missouri for the Kelso Klassic, starting tournament play on Friday night at 8:00 p.m.
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