BASEBALL/SOFTBALL: DMS sweeps PJHS (Dist. #50)
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[It wasn't pretty. It wasn't even close to being pretty. It wasn't a pitching dual, for sure. But it was a Coach's nightmare. It was one of those games that causes a Coach not to sleep much that night thinking about what went right or more likely what went wrong. It is the type of game that gives a Coach gray hair and/or ulcers. DuQuoin Middle School won over Pinckneyville 23-17 at Pinckneyville in seven, very long innings on Wednesday.
DuQuoin scored three runs in the first, three in the second, nine in the third inning, four in the fifth, and four in the seventh for a total of 23. Pinckneyville scored one in the first inning, one in the second, two in the third, seven in the fourth, four in the fifth, and two in the sixth for their 17 runs.
DuQuoin had three different pitchers. Tucker Kuhnert started the game and went 4 1/3 innings and was the winning pitcher. Hank Stewart relieved and threw one inning. Cole Hopkins finished up the final 1 2/3 innings. Pinckneyville's Jackson Brand started and went 2 2/3 innings followed by Miles Chandler, who pitched 4 1/3 innings.
Hitting for Pinckneyville was as follows: Caulden Lazenby was 4-6 with a triple. Peyton Emling was 2-6 with 2 RBI. Justin Bauersachs was 2-5. Dylan Carns was 4-5 with a double and an RBI. Clayton Houghland was 4-4. Miles Chandler was 3-4 with 2 RBI. Brady Louis was 2-5 with 2 RBI and Brian Kling was 2-3.
DuQuoin had Cole Hopkins 5-6 with two doubles and an RBI. Brock Bullar was 4-5 with a double and an RBI. Tucker Kuhnert had a super day at the plate going 4-4 all doubles with 9 RBI. Ryne O'Rourke was 3-5 with a double and 2 RBI. Braden Heape was 1-1. Braden Lee was 1-5 with a double and 3 RBI. Dalton Day was 3-5. Caleb Vogel was 3-6 with an RBI. Jordan Edwards also had a super day at the plate going 5-5 with a double and 4 RBI. Trace Klein was 1-3. DuQuoin pounded out 30 hits in the game.
Coach Tim Craft felt fortunate to come out the winner in this contest. "We came out hitting. We knew going into the game that with six games this week we would have to stick with our pitchers as long as possible. Our defense has to be better. We made too many mental mistakes. Today, we got lucky." DuQuoin's record is now 5-5.
DMS travels to Nashville on Thursday for another conference game. Saturday they will participate in the Anna Tournament.
-Special thanks to Roger Craft, who was the scorekeeper extraordinaire trying to keep all forty runs, fifty hits, etc. straight in this game. Craft's scorebook is a work of art.
<u>DMS softball makes it 9 in a row</u>
Coach Jason James, of the DuQuoin Middle School Softball Team, was grinning from ear to ear on Wednesday evening. His team had just defeated Pinckneyville Junior High School (Dist. #50) 6-1 in seven innings at Pinckneyville to go into a tie with the Junior Panthers for the conference lead.
DuQuoin took advantage of three Pinckneyville errors and scored four runs in the first inning of the game. DuQuoin also scored one run in the second and one in the third. Pinckneyville scored their lone run in the second inning with a base hit, a walk, and a hit batter. Pinckneyville had opportunities to score more, but could not push any more runs across the plate. They had the bases loaded in the second inning, the fourth inning, and two on in the seventh, but could do no damage. The DuQuoin defense held firm, committing only two errors in the contest. DuQuoin's Alaina Caldwell made two outstanding defensive plays in left field to keep Pinckneyville from scoring. DuQuoin's season record is 10-3.
The winning pitcher for DuQuoin was Jordyn Bullar. Her record is now 10-1. She pitched all seven innings allowing one earned run, five hits, had 7 walks, one hit batter, and 8 strikeouts. Brooklyn Morrow was the losing pitcher for Pinckneyville. Morrow pitched all seven innings, allowing six runs (only two earned), 10 hits, had one walk, and 4 strikeouts.
Pinckneyville had five hits in the game, all singles by Morgan Gleason, Brooklyn Morrow, Daisy Dudek, and two singles by Raygan Yates. Gleason had the only RBI for Pinckneyville. Pinckneyville had six total errors in the game.
DuQuoin pounded out 10 hits. Sydney Lewis was 3-5 with an RBI. Hannah Marek was 1-2 with a triple and an RBI. Brittany Clark was 1-4. Timbra Mansfield was 2-4 with an RBI. Alaina Caldwell was 1-3. Kat Robison was 2-4. Other players seeing action were Nikki Ridgeway, Harley Dearmond, and Andrea Morgan was the flex on defense.
Coach James commented: "I am very proud of the girls today. Pinckneyville is a very good team and has a very good pitcher. We did a good job against her at the plate. We need to shape up our defense towards the end of the game. I am proud of the team's effort and hard work."
DuQuoin travels to Nashville on Thursday for another conference game.
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