Clark, Brand lead Panthers to regional win

DU QUOIN - The Pinckneyville Panthers overcame an early 2-0 deficit to post a hard-fought 5-3 win Saturday afternoon over the Herrin Tigers in the championship game of the Class 2A Du Quoin Regional.

Now 22-10 overall, the Panthers advance to the semifinal round of the Benton Sectional next week where they will square off against the Harrisburg Bulldogs, a 6-4 winner Saturday over West Frankfort. Game time is set for 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Panthers head coach Kyle Smith was happy to see his team overcome the slow start to earn the win.

"I think a lot of it was nerves," Smith said, referencing starter Ayden Buza's lack of command of the strike zone. "Your season is on the line... everything you've worked for since the off season... once we brought Abel in, he got things calmed down for us.

"Abel's been pitching really well this year, especially the second half of the season," Smith continued. "We can always count on him for strikes. He's a gamer. He proved today why he's been good all year."

The Panthers are repeat regional champs.

"The last time we did that was 2007 and 2008 when we placed second and third at state," Smith said. "These guys we have now are the reason why we've had success the last couple of years... and that's largely because of their work ethic."

Clark commented on his pitching performance that resulted in a win for him and the team.

"I just wanted to come in and throw as many strikes as I could and get outs," he said. "That was my approach. Coach said I would be the first guy into pitch if we got in trouble, so I was mentally prepared."

Brand, who was 3-for-3 with a home run, said the team never lost its way after falling behind 2-0.

"You just have to keep fighting back," he said. "We played these guys earlier and gave up 13 runs in the first two innings. We kept clawing back and clawing back and came up just two runs short, so we knew we could come back and beat these guys."

Herrin's season draws to a close at 14-18.

It was the Tigers who drew first blood. They took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. With one out, Harper Shoemaker singled. Camden Banks was issued a walk. Chase Crompton executed a sacrifice bunt and reached safely on an error to load the bases. The error allowed Shoemaker to score (1-0).

A walk to Rylan Lattuada loaded the bases. A passed ball allowed Banks to score (2-0), but the inning fizzled when Panthers head coach Kyle Smith made a pitching change, bringing in Abel Clark to relieve starter Ayden Buza.

Smith escaped the jam, getting Jaxton Faulkenberry to line out to second, Jaxson Hudson to line out to right and then struck out Jackson Wade looking.

The Panthers, sparked by Clark's Houdini act, rallied in the bottom of the second, tallying three runs for a 3-2 advantage. Michael Brand got things started with a towering solo home run to right center off Tigers starter, Jaxson Hudson, who had worked a scoreless first frame.

Josh McGlinn followed with a single. J.D. Kellerman doubled off the fence in right center, advancing McGlinn to third. Cole Taylor next delivered a two-run single to right to give the Panthers a lead they would not relinquish. Hudson escaped further damage by striking out JJ Higgerson, picking Taylor off first base and getting Buza to ground into a force out.

Pinckneyville added single runs in the third and fourth innings off Herrin reliever Jackson Wade, increasing the Panthers' lead to 5-2. In the third, Brand doubled and came around to score on a sac fly by Taylor. In the fourth, Clark was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on an infield error.

Herrin got one run back in the sixth (5-3) when Crompton was hit by a pitch and courtesy runner, Luke Raski, came around to score on a hard-hit infield single by Faulkenberry that deflected off Clark.

The Tigers also placed their leadoff man on base in the top of the seventh when Skyler Croteau walked, but Clark quickly diffused the threat by getting Shoemaker and Banks to fly out and then struck out Crompton looking to end the game.

Herrin head coach Chad Mulholland said the Tigers had their chances, stranding seven men on base through the first three innings and 11 for the game, including bases loaded with nobody out in the first and second innings.

On one occasion, Pinckneyville right fielder JJ Higgerson showed off his strong arm, throwing out Herrin's speedy leadoff batter Tanner Hall, trying to score from third on what looked to be a sure-fire sac fly. It was bang-bang at the plate and the umpire ruled that Hall was out by a sliver.

"In playoff baseball, you definitely can't give away runs, especially with less than two outs. You have to produce some runs," Mulholland said. "We did hit some balls hard, but unfortunately right at them and they made some good plays in the field.

"We couldn't squeak across a few that we should have," Mulholland said. "And we had a couple of baserunning errors on our part where we didn't tag up on balls hit to the outfield. That's the top priority on anything hit to the outfield. It cost us a step and cost us a couple of runs. We could have been tied (5-5) at the end of the game instead of down two.

Despite the way the season ended, Mulholland said he is already excited about next season.

"I do believe Herrin Baseball's future is very bright," he said. "We're very excited about what's to come."

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