SOFTBALL: Falcons 2-3 at Kelso, Pete's repeats
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Pinckneyville Falcons returned from the 28th annual Kelso Klassic Mens' Fastpitch Softball tournament with a 2-3 performance, defeating Buchheit Trucking on Friday night and Altamont Home Center on Saturday afternoon while dropping contests with Kreke's Tree Service, Kelso Fastpitch and the eventual champion Pete's Blues.
"Overall we had a good weekend," said Falcons' head coach Eric Saunders. "We swung the bats well against some quality pitching and solid teams. I thought we competed every game and our pitchers battled against some good lineups."
Pete's knocked off the Topeka Toros 6-2 in the deciding 'if necessary' game on Sunday to defend their 2011 Kelso crown. The Blues' Jeremy Hollman received most valuable pitcher honors for the '12 Klassic while Topeka's Jaime Garcia Jr. was the most valuable player.
For Pinckneyville, Friday night's tournament opener saw contributions throughout the Falcons' lineup aid in a 13-3 six-inning victory over Buchheit.
Kevin Witges picked up the victory in the circle for Pinckneyville. Lyle Winter and Hayden Hicks both had three RBI for the Falcons in the rout.
Saunders (2-3, 2B, RBI), Winter (2-4, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI), Hay. Hicks (2-4, HR, 3 RBI), Matt Mason (2-3, RBI), Justin Jackson (2-4, 2B, 2 RBI), Rick Kasban (2-3, BB, RBI), Lance Bedar (2-4, 2B), Brandon George (1-1) and Haven Hicks (1-4, 2 RBI) all reached base against Buchheit Trucking.
The Falcons then faced off with Pete's Blues on Saturday morning and gave the back-to-back champs an even matchup for four innings before a three-run fifth spelled doom.
The Blues had just five hits, but three of those came in the fifth. Daniel Eisenhauer's single drove in Daniel Alstat, and Eisenhauer would later come in on an error for a 3-0 lead.
The Falcons got only one base runner past second the entire game and recorded just three singles, one each from Mason (1-3), Jackson (1-2, SAC) and Adam Barczewski (1-2).
The second of three Saturday games at Kelso for Pinckneyville saw the Falcons fall behind 7-0 after three before rallying to force extra innings in a 9-7 loss to Kreke's.
Just four outs from being short-gamed, the Falcons got a two-out RBI from John Kiselewski in the fourth to start their scoring. Mason, Hav. Hicks, Winter and Kasban all had hits in a four-run fifth with Winter's two-run triple driving in two.
Mason, Hav. Hicks and Winter did more damage in the sixth, stringing together a trio of hits to tie the game at 7-7.
A Pinckneyville error in the eighth, however, led to a deciding two-run walk-off homer for Kreke's.
The Falcons then kept their tournament hopes alive on Saturday evening against Altamont Home Center, whipping them 14-4 in five innings.
Winter (3-3, 2B, 3B, 3 RBI) stayed hot with three hits and three RBI, Jackson (2-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI) drove in four. Mason (2-2, 3B, 2 BB, RBI) and Hay. Hicks (2-3, 2B, BB) also had multi-hit efforts off Altamont.
Playing at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, the Falcons ran out of gas against Kelso, falling 12-9 despite nine hits at the plate. Jackson (2-4, 3 RBI), Winter (1-3, HR) and Hay. Hicks (2-4) led the offense.
Winter had eight hits on the weekend while Jackson, Mason and Hay. Hicks each had seven.
"Justin Jackson had another great tournament," Saunders said, "hopefully he can continue to carry us."
The Falcons' next scheduled event is the June 23-24 Rivertown Classic in Hermann, Missouri.
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