SOFTBALL: Lady Lions survive scare from Pinckneyville

Illinois' number one ranked team in Class 2A softball got a scare on Tuesday afternoon from visiting Pinckneyville, but the unbeaten Lady Lions stayed unbeaten, hanging on for a 4-3 victory as the Lady Panthers left the tying and go-ahead runs on base in the top of the seventh inning at Carterville.

PCHS drew first blood against Lions pitcher Avery English, scoring two runs in the top of the third inning. Mayci Doerflein led off with a single, Maddie Jones walked, and with two outs, Emma Banach drove both of them in with a base hit to give Pinckneyville the lead.

But Carterville answered, and answered big. Kylee Rock smacked a two-run triple to tie it, then Megan Hampton and Megam Barrett each added RBIs against PCHS's Mariah Clark to give the Lady Lions a 4-2 advantage.

"We have the ability to put up a big number very quickly," said Carterville head coach Brett Diel. "Our kids know that. We did just enough to get out of here with a conference win against a very good Pinckneyville team."

Clark settled in the rest of the day, however, allowing just two hits in the final three innings. She finished the game with three earned runs allowed on seven hits and three walks with seven strikeouts.

"Early in the game I thought she was throwing exceptionally well," said Lady Panthers head coach Alan Engelhardt, "hitting spots, good velocity. She got a little out of whack there in the middle of the game, and then really didn't have her best stuff to finish, but she found a way to get people out towards the end."

Pinckneyville had runners on in every inning but the second, but didn't score again until the top of the seventh. With two outs, Jones singled in front of an RBI double down the third base line by Brooklyn Morrow, then Banach reached on an error to put runners at the corners. English got out of the jam, though, getting Clark to ground out to first base.

"I thought we did as good as a job as we've done all year of grinding out at-bats," said Englehardt. "(English) is very good. We kept getting to full counts and doing things like that. No, we didn't square very many balls, but on the other hand, we made her throw a lot of pitches and we put a lot of balls in play rather than just striking out."

"I like the way that our kids competed. We could have rolled over after they went up 4-2, they stole all the momentum from us, but we made a couple big defensive plays and were able to stay in the game."

Jones (1-1, 2 R, 3 BB), Morrow (1-4, RBI, 2B), Banach (1-4, 2 RBI) and Doerflein (2-3, R) had Pinckneyville's hits against English, who fanned nine on the afternoon.

Rock (2-2, R, 2 RBI, 3B, BB) and Chelsea Gooden (2-2, SAC) each had two hits for the Lady Lions (16-0, 3-0).

The Lady Panthers (10-3, 2-1) face another state-ranked foe on Wednesday at home when the Nashville Hornettes visit Greg Hale Field.