Sparta’s baseball season came to an end Saturday with an 8-6 loss to Du Quoin in the Pinckneyville 2A Regional title game.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a quick start scoring three runs in the top of the first inning, two of those coming off a home run by Aaron Rushing.
Du Quoin answered right back in the bottom half of the frame scoring six runs to take the lead for good.
The Indians added another run in the second inning for a 7-3 advantage.
The Bulldogs took advantage of two errors and a wild pitch in the fifth inning to score three runs to close the gap to one run, 7-6.
Brandon George smashed a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth to round out the scoring for Du Quoin.
The win was Du Quoin’s 10th straight of the season, as the team advances to face Metro-East Lutheran in the Greenville Sectional.
With the loss, Sparta wrapped up its season with an 8-15-1 record.
Jordan Thompson took the loss for Sparta. Offensively the Bulldogs were led by Zach Ferguson (3-for-4 with a RBI) and Rushing (2-for-3 with a home run and 3 RBI).
Sparta 7, Pinckneyville 5
Sparta scored seven runs over the first three innings to grab a big early lead and then held on late for a 7-5 victory last Wednesday in the semifinals.
“Unfortunately in the postseason, one bad game means your season is over,” said Pinckneyville coach Alan Engelhardt. “I made the mistake of trying to get by without throwing Evan Chapman today, so we would have a shot later in the week, but it bit us as Sparta jumped out to 7 early runs before I got him in. The bottom line is Sparta just made more plays than us today.”
The Bulldogs jumped out to score four runs in the top of the first inning followed by two in the second and one in the third for the 7-0 lead.
Justin Meyerhoff had the big offensive game for Sparta by driving in four runs, while Dalton Robert knocked home two. Both players hit a home run for the Bulldogs
After falling behind 7-0, the Panthers battled back scoring single runs in the third and fourth innings before posting three runs in the sixth.
Seth Shevlin earned the win, while Joey Burris got the loss.
C.J. Opp went 3-for-3 with an RBI and Matthew Nichols drove in two runs to pace the Pinckneyville attack.
“Sparta drove in runs when they were in scoring position, hitting 2 home runs, while we left 14 stranded,” said Engelhardt. “Even though the season didn't end the way we wanted it to, I hope the boys keep their heads up as we had a solid 20-11 record and won the conference for only the third time in school history.”