Lady Indians come up clutch to finish round robin 2-0

The Du Quoin Lady Indians finished round robin play at Johnston City 2-0 Saturday afternoon, showcasing resiliency with come-from-behind victories in both games. <br />In both games, Du Quoin fell behind 2-0, but ultimately came back with clutch hitting and key situational play to defeat Johnston City (3-2) and Breese Mater Dei (6-4).<br />"I thought they kept themselves focused (despite trailing early in both games)," Du Quoin head coach Jason James said. "That's the biggest thing we have been trying to talk to them (about) &#8211; don't get down when your'e losing, battle till that last out and you never know what's going to happen. <br />"And we battled back in both games, so I was proud of them."<br />Game One: Du Quoin 3, Johnston City 2<br />Chloe Hill started the day from the circle for Du Quoin and faced early trouble against Johnston City.<br />Johnston City led off the first inning with a pair of long-hit RBI doubles to open up the game and take the early 2-0 lead. <br />But, Hill settled down from there as she finished the game allowing just the two first inning runs on five hits one walk and four strikeouts over five innings of work.<br />Offensively, Du Quoin was slow to start with no hits throughout the first three innings.<br />Grace Haney got things started in the fourth inning with Du Quoin's first hit, a leadoff single. Haney advanced to second base on a wild pitch and came around to score on a two-out RBI single from Olivia Whitley, cutting the Johnston City lead in half. <br />Du Quoin carried the momentum into the fifth inning with Katie Smith leading off the inning with a single to left field. Mackenzie Jackson followed up with a hard hit ground ball, resulting in a fielders choice, but Smith beat the force out at second.<br />With runners on first and second with one out, Hill came up in the clutch with an RBI double off the left-field fence to tie the game 2-2 and put the go-ahead run (Jackson) at third base.<br />Jackson came around to score the next at bat on a wild pitch, giving Du Quoin its first lead, 3-2. <br />That would prove to be enough to win the fist game of round robin play, as Jackson came on in relief of Hill for the final two innings, surrendering just two hits and no walks while striking out four to close out the win. <br />"I thought both pitchers threw very, very well for us," James said. "They kept us in the ball game, kept us around to give us a chance to come back."<br />Game two: Du Quoin 6, Breese Mater Dei 4<br />The second game of the round robin played out similar to the first for Du Quoin, as they were able to capitalize on everything the Lady Knights gave them in route to a 6-4 comeback win. <br />Jackson who closed out game one, led the way from the circle in game two as she went seven innings, allowing four runs (zero earned) on seven hits and one walk while striking out seven. <br />Mater Dei struck early, as a one-out error came around to score on a double in the first inning. The double then came around to score on an overthrow of third base to give them a 2-0 first inning lead. <br />Similar to the first game, the Lady Indians struggled offensively throughout the first three innings.<br />But, the bats came alive in the fourth. <br />Jackson reached on a one-out walk, Bullar followed up with a single and Hill hit into a fielders choice, putting runners on first and third with two outs. <br />Grace Haney came through with a two-out RBI single to put Du Quoin on the board and cut the deficit to 2-1. <br />Sadie Day walked the next at bat to load the bases up and Meryn Gross hit hard ground ball that Mater Dei could not field cleanly as Hill came around to score the tying run. <br />Whitley continued the momentum with a two-out RBI single to give Du Quoin a 3-2 lead. <br />Mater Dei answered in the bottom of the fourth, as another one-out error came around to score, this time on an RBI single. The Lady Knights brought home another run two at bats later on a fielders choice to take the lead back, 4-3. <br />But, once again the Lady Indians responded, leading off the fifth inning with a pair of hit batters (Smith and Jackson) and a walk from Bullar to load the bases up with no outs. <br />Grace Haney plated Smith with an RBI single and Jackson came around to score on a bases loaded RBI walk from Gross, giving Du Quoin the lead back 5-4. <br />Bullar added another insurance run in the inning, as Mater Dei overthrew third base on a pickoff attempt. <br />"They hit us a few times, but we came up with a hit or something to put some runs across the board and get some momentum," James said. "When they hit a couple kids and you came up and get a base hit, (that's) a lot more productive than nobody on and a base hit. <br />"The kids kind of fed off each other after that and started putting the ball in play and started making things happen."<br />The Lady Knights mounted a late comeback attempt in the seventh inning, putting runners on second and third with two outs. <br />But, Jackson came up with a big defensive play, fielding a hard hit ground ball to make the final out of the game at first base. <br />While the defense wasn't perfect in the game two win, it came through when it mattered most.<br />"Defense came up big when we had to, it didn't cost us a lot in (the innings we did give up runs)," James said. "That's just something we have to work and continue to improve on."