BASEBALL: Panthers split at "Ish" Smith Classic
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Pinckneyville baseball wrapped up their 2012 regular season on Saturday with a split at the "Ish" Smith Classic held at Greenville College where the Panthers short-gamed Vandalia 12-2 in five before falling to Greenville 4-2.
Evan Chapman had RBI hits in the first and second innings, part of an 11-1 start for the Panthers against Vandalia. Bryant Shute and Joey Burris (RBI) also had singles in the first inning, then PCHS sent eleven men to the dish in the second after batting around in the first.
Shute (2-3, HBP, 2B, 3 R, RBI), Chapman (2-2, HBP, 2B, R, 3 RBI) and Noah Hepp (2-3, R, RBI) each had two hits against the Vandals. Burris (1-4, R, RBI), Marian Brammeier (1-3, R), Hunter Queen (1-3, BB, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI), Dylan Hardin (1-4, RBI), C.J. Opp (1-1, 3 BB, RBI) and Justin Bumann (1-2, BB, R, 2 RBI) accounted for the rest of Pinckneyville's dozen hits.
Opp got the win on the mound, tossing all five innings and allowing two earned runs on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
"In the Vandalia game, we really came out and swung the bats well and Vandalia compounded their problems with some errors," said PCHS head baseball coach Alan Engelhardt. "C.J. did a good job of working on top of hitters and pitching with a lead as well."
In game two, the Panthers met last year's Class 2A Sectional finalist Greenville and entered the bottom of the sixth tied at 2-2 before the Comets got two runs in the inning and shut the door on Pinckneyville's offense in the seventh.
Dylan Bone's two-out, two-RBI base hit in the bottom of the first gave Greenville a 2-0 lead, but Panthers' starter Burris would settle in and allow just two more hits until the sixth.
Shute singled and scored on Burris's RBI single in the fourth, then Hardin singled in the sixth and later scored on a passed ball to knot it up at two apiece.
"I thought we did the best job we have done all year at competing when things weren't going in our favor," Engelhardt said. "We trailed most of the game but found a way to even it up in the top of the sixth. Ultimately, a couple of mistakes doomed us in the bottom of the sixth, but I really liked the way we fought and ground out at-bats."
Bone walked in the bottom of the sixth before back-to-back singles by Jordan Zeeb and Scott Riggins gave the Comets the lead.
Shute (2-4, R), Burris (2-3, RBI), Queen (1-4), Hardin (1-3, BB, R) and Bumann (1-3) each hit safely. Opp added two more walks to his three from game one, officially finishing 0-for-1 against Greenville.
Burris went all six innings and gave up three earned runs on seven hits and three walks, fanning a pair.
"I thought Joey Burris did an outstanding job on the mound against a very good team and, for the most part, our defense was solid behind him," said Engelhardt. "This was a good game to play before the regionals because it really felt like a post-season game. In our quest for consistency, this was a good step."
The Panthers (16-15) begin their postseason at Rigdon Field on Monday against Sparta - the team that eliminated them from the Regional tournament a year ago when PCHS was a top seed.
With Burris and Opp both throwing five or more innings on Saturday, it appears the Panthers will go with Chapman on the hill in Monday's first-round Regional contest with Sparta. Chapman would then have the opportunity to get the next four days off from pitching before starting a potential Regional Championship game on Saturday.
Opp appears the likely choice to start Thursday's Semifinal against Du Quoin on normal rest if the Panthers can manage to get by the Bulldogs on Monday.