SOFTBALL: Big fifth inning lifts Lady Panthers over A-J
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[With their first round game at the Class 2A Waltonville Regional just a week away, Pinckneyville softball is beginning to do the things that made them one of the early-season favorites in Southern Illinois.
The Lady Panthers knocked off Anna-Jonesboro 11-4 on Thursday at Greg Hale Field for their fourth victory in their last five games.
"We played with some energy, we had some excitement about us," said PCHS head coach Mike Cheek. "We did some short game stuff, we ran a trot play and scored a run off of that, we got a suicide squeeze down; the kind of things Pinckneyville is known for. We did those things today and I think it kind of got the juices going and the girls played better."
The Lady Wildcats took a 1-0 advantage in the top of the first, but Maddy Keith singled and scored in the bottom of the frame to tie it up. The score remained 1-1 until Lindsey Patterson drove in Chandra Parr in the top of the third for a 2-1 A-J lead.
After starting pitcher Emily Chapman held the Lady Wildcats scoreless in the fourth, PCHS jumped ahead for good.
Taylor Cheek walked and scored on a double by Taylor Cicardi, then Jenkel drove in Cicardi while reaching on a fielder's choice. Keith tripled with two outs to bring in Jenkel, and the Lady Panthers led 4-2.
The big inning was yet to come, however, as Pinckneyville poured on seven runs in the bottom of the fifth on five singles, a double, and a solo homer by Shersty Stanton. Stanton, Cicardi, Jenkel, Kortney Crawford and Mo Ramsey each picked up RBI's in the inning.
The homer by Stanton was her second in as many days for Wednesday's Pinckneyville cleanup hitter.
"She's seeing the ball really well right now," Cheek said of his catcher.
Crawford drove in a run for the second straight game as she continues to work her way back from a torn ACL over the winter.
"Considering she's had maybe five or six at-bats all year, she's playing against kids who have been playing for thirty games, so she's doing extremely well, we're very pleased with Kortney right now," said Cheek.
Three Lady Panthers finished with two hits apiece: Keith (2-4, 3B, R, RBI), Ramsey (2-4, 2B, R, RBI) and Cicardi (2-4, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI). Chapman (1-4, RBI), Stanton (1-3, BB, HR, R, RBI), Cheek (1-3, BB, 2 R), Jenkel (1-4, 2 R, 3 RBI) and Crawford (1-2, BB, RBI) also hit safely.
Chapman (9-5) picked up her second win in as many days, going the first five innings and allowing three earned runs on five hits and two walks while striking out a pair. Malanowski took over in the sixth and finished up the game, allowing an unearned run on two hits and a walk with one strikeout.
Pinckneyville (19-10) finishes up the regular season by hosting Marissa on Thursday and Elverado on Monday. The Lady Panthers take on Du Quoin at the Waltonville Regional on Wednesday, May 18.