Lady Panthers go 1-1 in round robin play

As disappointing as the start was for the Lady Panthers Saturday afternoon, the finish was satisfying as they finished round robin play 1-1 with a 5-0 loss to Massac County and 10-0 win over Freeburg. <br />The scorebook was deceiving in game one against the Lady Patriots, as the Lady Panthers did string together nine hits. <br />But, the Panthers failed to capitalize with runners on base as they left 14 runners on base as Massac County picked up the 5-0 shutout win. <br />Daisy Dudek surrendered allowed all five runs (four earned) on eight hits walking none while striking out a pair. <br />Massac County tallied a run in the first and sixth inning, but did the majority of their damage in the fifth with a trio of RBI singles. <br />Pinckneyville threatened early and often, loading the bases four different times, but ultimately could not come up with the clutch hit they needed to spark the offense off of Massac County starter JoJo Parker. <br />"The first game we struggled with runners in scoring position because we didn't make adjustment," Pinckneyville head coach Alan Engelhardt said. "She (Parker) pitched us a little bit differently with runners in scoring position and we didn't adjust to that."<br />However, the Lady Panthers seemed to adjust more than well enough in the second game of the round robin against Freeburg, led by Mariah Clark on the mound and at the plate. <br />Clark was nothing short of amazing to close out the day, leading the way from the mound as she tossed a six-inning no-hitter with her only blemish being one walk while fanning ten Lady Midgets. <br />She was equally impressive at the plate, finishing the game a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with three home runs and a ground-rule double, finishing tied for a team-high three RBI's.<br />"Three home runs and a no hitter, one walk (was huge for us) and she (even) doubled in her fourth at bat," Engelhardt said. "I think that's part of it, our kids have so much confidence when she takes the mound that we play more relaxed because we know we don't have to do so much and we have a great chance to win. <br />"We have to get to that point when a couple of our kids take the circle for us, but we will get there with that." Clark wasn't the only to get it done at the plate, as Emma Banach and Josie Gleason came up with home runs of their own to help fuel the 10-0 win. <br />After a solo shot in the first from Clark and to lead off the third gave Pinckneyville a 2-0 lead, Dudek and Gleason followed up with back-to-back singles. <br />Banach capitalized as she delivered a three-run home run to extend the lead, 5-0. <br />Dudek and Lauren Jackson tacked on RBI singles in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively to push the lead to 7-0.<br />The Lady Panthers capped off the bounce-back win in the sixth inning. Clark led things off with her third home run of the game to push them ahead 8-0 and Josie Gleason followed up a Dudek single with a two-run home run over the center field wall to seal the 10-0 six inning win. <br />Engelhardt was glad to see his team make the necessary offensive adjustments in the second game. <br />"In the first inning when we hit all those foul balls I was thinking 'Oh no', because we have had games where we have struggled to adjust this year," Engelhardt said. "And then the kids did a tremendous job of making that adjustment and hitting the ball hard. <br />"Even most of our outs were hard outs in the second game which is what we are trying to get to." <br />Pinckneyville (10-4) will look to carry the momentum into Monday's home conference matchup with Nashville at 4:30 p.m., the team's first meeting since the Lady Hornets ended the Lady Panthers playoff run last season in the regional champion