SOFTBALL: Falcons go back-to-back at Black & Gold Classic
For the second straight year, the Pinckneyville Falcons are champions of the Black & Gold Classic Fastpitch Softball Tournament, held in New Haven, Ill. Pinckneyville stormed through the event at 5-0, sweeping pool play before defeating Boonville Fastpitch (MO) and tournament host Black & Gold Fastpitch in Sunday's eliminations.
They did it with pitching and defense, as each of the team's three pitchers picked up at least one victory over the weekend.
"Very good weekend for us," said Falcons player-coach Eric Saunders. "All three of our pitchers were dominant. When they did get in a jam they either got a big strikeout or we made a big play defensively. We got a few timely double plays and threw out a couple runners at the plate. We hadn't played well defensively all year, but this weekend we stepped it up."
The weekend began with a 9-2 win over the Wizards of Oz (Kansas City, MO) with Bryant Hale picking up the first of his two victories as the starting pitcher. B. Hale allowed six hits and three walks with a pair of strikeouts. Saunders (1-3), Hayden Hicks (1-3), Daniel Eisenhauer (1-3), Steve Linton (2-3, 2 RBI), Matt Mason (1-2), Lyle Winter (2-2, 2 RBI), John Kiselewski (3-3, 2 RBI) and Garrick Hale (2-2, 3 RBI) supplied the offense.
Game two for the Falcons was a tightly-contested 3-2 win over Kelso with Troy Downen fanning ten batters and picking up the win. He allowed just six hits and walked none. Saunders (1-3), Eisenhauer (2-3, 2 RBI), Winter (2-3), Kiselewski (1-2) and G. Hale (1-3) had Pinckneyville's hits.
It was Kiselewski's turn in the circle in the pool play finale, and the right-hander gave up three earned runs on seven hits and a walk with five K's in the Falcons' 10-5 victory over the St. Charles Tribe. Drew Dudek led the offense with three hits, finishing 3-for-4 with an RBI. Winter (1-3, 2 RBI), Saunders (1-1), G. Hale (2-4, RBI), B. Hale (1-2, RBI), Adam Barczewski (2-3, RBI), C.J. Opp (1-3, 2 RBI) and Alan Engelhardt (1-3) also hit safely for Pinckneyville.
Sunday's semifinal saw B. Hale out-duel legendary hurler Terry Luster as the Falcons slipped past Boonville 2-1 with help from a two-out RBI double by Mason in the fourth inning. B. Hale surrendered six hits and a walk and struck out six for his second W of the weekend. Saunders (1-3), Hicks (2-3), Eisenhauer (1-3, RBI) and Mason (1-2, RBI) had hits for Pinckneyville off Luster.
"Up and down the order 1-through-9 we are swinging the bats well," Saunders said. "We got some big two-out hits."
The championship game started off with a bang for Pinckneyville, as they plated five runs in the first inning. After Black & Gold crept to within two at 6-4 in the sixth, Hicks cranked a two-out, three-run double to seal the deal.
Downen got his second win of the tournament, going five innings and allowing five runs on ten hits with four strikeouts. B. Hale picked up the save, tossing the final two innings. He gave up one hit and fanned a pair. Dudek (1-4), Saunders (1-4), Hicks (2-4, 3 RBI), Eisenhauer (2-4, RBI), Linton (2-3, RBI), Mason (1-2), Winter (1-3, RBI), Kiselewski (1-2, 2 RBI) and G. Hale (1-3) had the Falcons' hits in the championship game.
"To win this tournament two years in a row is a pretty tough accomplishment for us," said Saunders. "They load it up with some very good teams and some outstanding pitchers that have been real tough on us in the past."
Pinckneyville (14-8) has now won ten consecutive games at the Black & Gold Classic, and will be riding a seven-game winning streak into the Nokomis Homecoming Tournament July 11-12.