BASEBALL BRAGGIN' RIGHTS: Diamond Tribe Bounces Panthers
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ In desperate need of a victory following a pair of lopsided weekend losses, Du Quoin High School's Baseball team handed out some punishment of its own Monday evening at Rigdon Field.
Weathering a one-hour rain delay at the outset, the Indians touched two Pinckneyville Community High School pitchers for 16 hits in a 13-3 short-game decision.
The Indians, 9-6, are 3-1 and share the River-to-River Conference's Mississippi Division lead with Anna-Jonesboro. Pinckneyville is 4-8 and 0-4.
Du Quoin hosts Nashville Tuesday while the Panthers visit Sparta.
"Du Quoin is a much better ball club than us, so we cannot make the kinds of mistakes we made today," PCHS coach Alan Engelhardt said.
"Errors and walks led to big innings because Du uoin didn't have to work to string hits together consistently."
In the second inning, the visitors touched Pinckneyville for a pair of unearned runs. A two-out RBI single from Drew Dudek trimmed the margin to 2-1 before Du Quoin struck again.
Cale Bastien and Nick Baskin ripped run-scoring doubles during the frame with Garrett Hopkins' RBI grounder accounting for the fourth tally.
Ahead 6-1, Bastien surrendered a long opposite field home run to Garrick Hale but the Panthers could get no closer.
Du Quoin put another four spot on the scoreboard in its next at bat, chasing Hale (1-2) in favor of reliever Jeff Thornton.
Brandon George-who finished with three hits and four RBI-knocked in two runs with a single.
Baskin's sacrifice fly and a run-scoring hit from Seth Flint pushed the Indians ahead by seven.
George knocked in another run with RBI from Ethan Beasley and Bastien completing the scoring.
Du Quoin's 16-hit attack included safeties from eight of the nine batting order spots.
Behind George's three hits, six Indians enjoyed two-hit days. Josh Cushman and Beasley were both 2-for-3.
Bastien added a double and triple. Flint, Baskin and Tyler Shelton stroked a pair of hits. J.C. Davis singled.
Bastien (2-1) struck out eight batters and gave only three hits in going the distance.
"We had very good pitching today from Cale, our line-up produced from top-to-bottom and we played solid defense, " Indians coach Tim Craft said. "And when we put all those things together, we can be a tough team to handle."
PCHS committed three errors behind Hale and Thornton, allowing four unearned runs to score. Du Quoin, on the other hand, played errorless defense behind the Kaskaskia College-bound Bastien.
"Our defense really put Garrick Hale in a bad position," Engelhardt said. "Because he had to throw so many pitches to work out of trouble, he lost effectiveness and we had to pull him out of the game. We obviously still have a lot to work on."
The bottom third of Du Quoin's line-up (Hopkins, Baskin and George) combined for six RBI and five hits).
DHS 13, PCHS 3
DHS 024 412-13 16 0
PCHS 012 000-3 3 3
Bastien and Shelton. Hale, Thornton (4) and Gill. WP-Bastien, 2-1. LP-Hale, 1-2. TOP HITTERS-Du Quoin: Davis 1-5, Shelton 2-5, Cushman 2-3 (3B), Beasley 2-3 (2B, RBI), Bastien 2-4 (2B, 3B, 2 RBI), Flint 2-5, Hopkins (RBI), Baskin 2-2 (2B, RBI), George 3-4 (4 RBI). PCHS-Winter 1-2 (2B), Hale 1-2 (HR, 2 RBI), Dudek 1-2 (RBI).