Lady Panthers shut out Carterville

CARTERVILLE - Mariah Clark pitched a no-hitter with 13 strikeouts and two walks as the Pinckneyville High School softball team blanked Carterville, 6-0, Tuesday evening in SIRR Mississippi Division play.

Pinckneyville moved its overall record to 20-4 with the win. The Lady Panthers are 9-0 in the conference, which they had already clinched outright.

"Mariah was really good for us today," said Pinckneyville coach Alan Engelhardt. "She didn't allow a ball out of the infield the entire game. Defensively, we played well behind her and handled everything that was put into play."

Megan Mayo had three hits, while Kylee Kling hit a triple as part of two hits. Lauren Jackson also had two hits and Emma Banach drove in two runs.

"Offensively, we were able to come up with a few key hits to push runs across, but we couldn't string a bunch together to put up a big inning," Engelhardt said. "The bottom of the order was really good for us."

Pinckeyville also learned its postseason path Wednesday. The Lady Panthers open in the semifinals of their own 2A regionalon May 15 against either Waltonville-Sesser-Valier or Zeigler-Royalton-Christopher, with Nashville and Johnston City in the other semifinal.