BASEBALL: Panthers' streak reaches ten after weekend wins
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Pinckneyville baseball's winning streak reached ten games over the weekend as the Panthers rode the arms of Evan Chapman and Matthew Nichols to victories over Central High School (Mo.) and Riverton at the Pleasant Plains Invitational.
"We did a really nice job of playing solid baseball on Saturday," said Panthers' head coach Alan Engelhardt. "It was good to see us come out after spending the night in a hotel and take care of business. You never know how your kids will respond to changes in situations, but we came out and were ready to play ball in both games."
Chapman's six innings of three-hit ball and Bryant Shute's 3-for-3 effort at the plate carried PCHS to an 11-1 rout of Central on Saturday afternoon, then Nichols shut out Riverton for four innings to get the 6-1 win later in the evening.
"Our pitching was very good in both games, our defense was solid, and we had hits from several spots in the batting order," said Engelhardt.
Chapman retired the first nine batters in order, allowing the Panthers to jump ahead 2-1 against Central after four innings.
In the top of the fifth, Pinckneyville broke the game open with six runs, three coming on a home run by Shute and two more on a double by Justin Bumann.
Nichols smacked a three run triple in the sixth to make it 11-1, then Chapman retired the side in order in the bottom of the inning to end the game.
Shute (3-3, HR, BB, 3 R, 3 RBI) and Nichols (3-4, 2B, R, 4 RBI) led the way with three-hit efforts at the plate for Pinckneyville. Bumann was 2-for-4 (2B, R, 2 RBI), and Adam Barczewski (1-4, 2 R), Brandon Long (1-3, 2B, BB, 2 R), Marian Brammeier (1-4) and Taylor Beninati (1-2, 2B, BB) also had hits for the Panthers.
Chapman (4-0) struck out six and walked just one, allowing only one run, which was unearned..
"Evan Chapman only gave up 3 bloop singles and Bryant Shute and Matthew Nichols really hit the ball well to provide offense," Engelhardt said.
In the nightcap, Pinckneyville got two runs in the first inning and two more in the second to give Nichols, Queen and Beninati all they would need in a 6-1 victory over Riverton.
Nichols (2-0) allowed just one hit and one walk in his four innings on the mound before turning things over to Queen (2 innings, 2 h, 1 k) and then Beninati (1 inning, 2 h, 2 bb, 1 er, 1 k).
Nichols helped himself at the plate in the first with a sacrifice fly to score Long, then Joey Burris singled to send Shute across the plate for a 2-0 lead over the Hawks.
C.J. Opp's RBI single in the second made it 3-0, then Opp scored on Shute's single later in the inning as Nichols continued to cruise.
Shute drove in Barczewski with a single in the fourth for some insurance, then drove in Opp in the sixth for the final PCHS run.
Shute completed a 7-for-7 day with a 4-for-4 (R, 3 RBI) showing against Riverton. Barczewski (2-4, R) Long (2-4, 2B, R) and Opp (2-3, 2 R, RBI) each had a pair of hits off the Hawks. Beninati was 1-for-2 (2B, HBP, R).
"It was also good to see Taylor Beninati start to break out with a couple of doubles," Engelhardt said. "Again, I am happy to see that we continue to improve; we need to keep getting better every game, and we can be a tough out at the end of the year."
The Panthers (16-3) were scheduled to face Carterville on Monday, but rain has forced a postponement. Pinckneyville will travel to Carbondale on Tuesday, weather permitting.