The Road to East Peoria
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Two first inning runs proved to be more than plenty of support for Du Quoin High School junior pitcher Chelsea Hill Monday afternoon.
The righthander struck out four batters and issued just two walks-allowing only a second inning single by Mackenzie Carpenter-as the Lady Indians blanked Zeigler-Royalton/Christopher 2-0 in the opening game of the Du Quoin Class 2A Regional.
Now 17-13, the Lady Indians faced top-seeded Pinckneyville (25-7) at 4:30 Tuesday in semifinal round play.
Z-R-C ended its year 12-9.
"Hill pitched a great game and our defense was just outstanding," Du Quoin coach Jason James said.
"We came up with some timely hits in the first inning to score both our runs."
In the opening frame, the Lady Indians started fast as Kelsey Toler smacked a leadoff single and promptly moved to second base on Jessica Hirsch's sacrifice bunt.
Heather Cavins then sent Toler home with the first run, doubling to deep leftfield.
Courtesy runner Erica Rainwater entered for Cavins and trotted home when Kasi Camden singled.
Du Quoin would manage just three more hits against Z-R-C hurlers Taylor Atchison and Rachel Hill, but limited their strikeouts to three.
"We are getting very close with our hitting," said James. "We only struck out three times and are putting the ball in play."
Z-R-C only had four base runners against Hill (16-10) with only Carpenter reaching scoring position.
Hill retired 15 of the final Z-R-C batters and threw 10 ground ball outs.
Carpenter's single in the second marked the lone time a Lady Tornadoe leadoff batter reached base.
Toler was 2-for-3 at the plate with Megan Edwards accounting for the final Du Quoin safety.
"We'll need to come out and play with the same intensity against Pinckneyville," James said. "This should be a very good game."
The Perry County rivals split two previous 2009 meetings with the Lady Indians winning 3-1 at Lefty Pyle Field April 7.
Two weeks later, Pinckneyvile cruised 11-1 in five innings.
Johnston City (23-6) blanked Herrin (11-13) 4-0 in Monday's second play-in game, held at Johnston City.
The Lady Indians face Murphysboro (19-4) Thursday afternoon at 4:30 in the second of what should be two exciting semis.
Marissa Montgomery led off with a single against Herrin senior hurler Micha Rotz, then after a strikeout and sacrifice, scored on a base hit by Samantha Watkins.
Leadoff hitter C.C. Hutchinson then stepped to the plate and drilled her 12th home run of the season.
Hutchinson, who also toed the rubber and benefited from some slick fielding in a six-hit struggle, is only a freshman.
Herrin (11-13) loaded the bases in the fourth inning and had baserunners in six of the seven frames but couldn't break up the shutout.
"We just couldn't get the key hit," said Herrin coach Jennifer Cobin, an Elkville native and former Du Quoin assistant.
J'City 4, Herrin 0
Herrin 000 000 0-0 6 1
J'City 040 000 x- 4 11 1
Rotz and Gualdoni. Hutchinson and Mouyard. WP - Hutchinson. LP - Rotz. Top Hitters - Herrin: Gualdoni 1-2, B.Cislaghi 1-3, Rotz 2-3, Cripps 1-2, Pribble 1-3. Johnston City: Hutchinson 2-3 (HR, 2RBI), Johansen 2-3, Mouyard 2-2, Bunting 1-2, Montgomery 1-3, Nagrodski 1-2, Watkins 2-3 (RBI).
Du Quoin 2, Z-R-C 0
Z-R-C 000 000 0-01 0
DHS 200 000 x-2 5 0
Atchison, Hill (4) and Fiss. Hill and Cavins. WP-Hill, 16-10. LP-Hill. Top Hitters-Z-R-C: Carpenter 1-3. Du Quoin: Toler 2-3, Cavins 1-3 (2B, RBI), Camden 1-3, Edwards 1-3. Records: Z-R-C 12-9, Du Quoin 17-13.