Indians top defending state champion Goreville Blackcats, 5-1
The Indians were not phased Tuesday evening as they faced off against the defending Class A State Champion Goreville Blackcats. <br />Hank Stewart set the pace from the mound, tossing 4 2/3 shutout innings, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out four, leading the Indians to a 5-1 win. <br />Stewart ended the game on defense as well, sliding to his right to field a hard ground ball, allowing him to step on second for the final out of the game with men first and third.<br />"Hank threw a great game," Du Quoin head coach Tim Craft said. "We missed a couple plays behind him that would have got him a little bit deeper in the game, but he had a great game.<br />"And made a great play there at the end of the game to get that final out." <br />Relieving Stewart was freshman right-hander Alex Zimmerman, who did not miss a beat as he closed the game out allowing just two hits and one run over the final 2 1/3 innings. <br />"Alex coming in as freshman (was huge)," Craft said. "You're playing against defending state champions and (he) really showed no fear and threw strikes. <br />"That's what we need."<br />The Indians got things going on offense early on. <br />Ashton Smith led off the game with a hard single, before being moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt from Stewart. <br />Braden Lee moved him to third, allowing Jordan Edwards (1-3 2RBI) to deliver a sacrifice fly deep to right field to give the Indians the 1-0 first-inning lead. <br />Tevin Lee (2-3 HR 2RBI 2R) continued the momentum the next at bat, belting a two-run home-run off of Goreville starter Brant Glidewell well over the right-field wall as Du Quoin took a 3-0 lead heading into the second. <br />The Indians tacked on insurance runs in the third and fourth. Edwards doubled to bring home Braden Lee (3-3 2R) in the third inning.<br />Charley Mercier followed suit int the fourth with an RBI double of his own, plating T. Lee. <br />"We have some guys that can hit it a little bit," Craft said. "It was nice to see Tevin come up and kind of jump started us a little bit. <br />"We had some good swings all game. Charely hit a ball hard, Jordan hit a ball hard. Braden ended up with three hits, there were some good swings today."<br />That would be more than enough offense, as the Bearcats managed just one run (a sacrifice fly in the sixth).<br />Five games into the season, Du Quoin (3-2) has piled up 37 runs in the first five games, something Craft hopes is a trend for the season. <br />"So far from what we have seen it (the offense) has been a plus," Craft said. "It's a long season and we are going to go through some ups and downs. Hopefully we keep hitting."<br />Du Quoin will resume action at home Thursday evening, hosting Chester with the game slated to start at 4:30 p.m.