Lady Indians defeat Elverado 4-0, but fall to Trico 9-1 Saturday

The Du Quoin Lady Indians went 1-1 Saturday afternoon, hosting a round robin with Elverado and Trico, winning the first game 4-0 over the Lady Falcons before falling in the final game, 9-1, to the Lady Pioneers. <br />Chloe Hill set the pace to open up the day for Du Quoin, tossing a complete-game shutout, allowing four hits and no walks while striking out three. <br />"I thought Chloe did a good job of hitting spots, keeping them off-balanced and getting a lot of ground balls," Du Quoin head coach Jason James said.<br /> Elverado starter Allie Whittington proved to be tough as well, surrendering just four hits and four walks, while striking out 13. <br />The Lady Indians were able to get to her in the bottom of the second. <br />Sadie Day and Hill led off the inning with a walk and single, respectively, setting up Grace Haney. <br />Haney delivered with a double to score both of them and give Du Quoin a 2-0 lead, proving to be more than enough offense. <br />Elverado did threaten in the top of the third, as Whittington drilled a triple with just one out, but Hill retired the next two batters with routine fly outs to exit the inning unscathed. <br />The Lady Falcons were unable to get a runner past second the remainder of the game. <br />Du Quoin tacked on two more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.<br />Hill reached on walk with one-out to get things going, advancing to third on a stolen base and passed ball.<br />With two outs, Meryn Gross delivered an RBI single to plate Hill and Maci McKinnies plated the second run of the inning with an RBI of her own. <br />"We had four RBIs, (two) with two outs, so we just had the timely hitting," James said. "The Whittington girl for them throws well. She had her rise ball working today and I think she did a good job them in the ball game and keeping us off pace." <br />Elverado led off the top of the seventh with a single, but Hill retired the next three batters to seal the 4-0 win for Du Quoin. <br />In the second game of the day, the Lady Indians were unable to keep the momentum going, facing off against the state-ranked Lady Pioneers, falling 9-1. <br />Jackson threw a complete game for Du Quoin, surrendering all nine runs in large part to a number of fielding mistakes, something James knew his team couldn't do against a team of Trico's caliber. <br />"It is (tough competition)," James said. "Trico is number two in the state in 1A, they are a good ball team. We got down 2-0 early, fought back to get a run and then had a few mistakes here and there. <br />"Teams like that, you really can't do that. They will capitalize on (mistakes) and get you every time, and that's what they did."<br />The Lady Pioneers tacked on two runs to open up the game with a two RBI double. <br />Du Quoin did manage to claw back within one with an RBI double from Morgan Bullar to score Jackson who reached on a single, but that would be the extent of the Lady Indians' offense, as those would prove to be their only two hits of the game. <br />Trico tacked on three runs in the fourth and four in the sixth to cruise to the 9-1 win. <br />Du Quoin will look to bounce back Monday afternoon, but the competition won't be any easier as they host the defending state champions, Carterville. The game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.