SOFTBALL: PCHS tops Marissa in eight
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Pinckneyville let a 2-0 lead slip away in the top of the seventh inning, but came back to defeat Marissa-Coulterville 3-2 on Thursday when Shersty Stanton scored on a wild throw in the bottom of the eighth.
Stanton, who had homered in her last two games coming in, was 2-for-3 at the plate with a double, a run scored and another driven in.
"(Stanton) came up in that last inning and got a hit, they through the ball around a little bit, we took advantage, and it won a game for us," said Lady Panthers' head softball coach Mike Cheek.
"Shersty's just a great kid," he continued. "I'm so happy things are working out for her like this. She's what we all talk about as being the ultimate teammate. She's always positive, she's always upbeat, she's always encouraging her teammates. I think that's kind of poetic justice when things like that happen for her."
Pinckneyville led 1-0 after the first inning thanks to Stanton's two-out RBI double that scored Mo Ramsey, who had singled with one out.
Ramsey picked up an RBI in the fifth with a triple, scoring Dani Jenkel.
PCHS starter Sara Malanowski didn't allow a runner to get to second base until the top of the seventh, when three singles and two errors allowed the Lady Meteors to tie things up at 2-2.
After failing to score with runners at second and third with one out in the seventh, Pinckneyville would take advantage of mistakes by the Lady Meteors in the eighth for their twentieth win of the season.
Stanton singled with one out and advanced to second on an error, then raced to third on a wild pitch. Meteors catcher Camille Bumann fired to third to try to retire Stanton, but sailed her throw into the outfield, allowing Stanton to race home uncontested.
Malanowski (11-5) picked up the win, throwing all eight innings and giving up seven hits. She struck out seven and walked just one.
Ramsey joined Stanton with two hits, going 2-for-4 with a triple, scoring and driving in a run. Jenkel (1-3, R), Taylor Cicardi (1-3) and Taylor Cheek (1-3) also had hits for PCHS.
The Lady Panthers (20-10) have now won three straight and five out of six, and close out the 2011 regular season at home on Monday when they host Elverado.