After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first inning, Freeburg countered with 11 unanswered runs for an 11-1 victory over Pinckneyville Thursday in the Alton Marquette Sectional semifinals.
“We came out and didn't make the adjustments needed,” said Pinckneyville coach Alan Engelhardt. “They threw a very soft tosser at us and we just kept reaching for the ball and hitting weak ground-outs. In fact 11 of our 18 outs were on weak ground balls. On the mound, we had success when we hit spots, but they made us pay every time we didn’t. I am proud of the guys for battling through some adversity this season, albeit mostly self inflicted, and coming away with a regional championship and a winning record in conference play.  We will miss our seniors, it has been fun to watch them improve over their four years, but we also look hopefully to the future as we return 16 of our 19 letter winners for next year.”
Freeburg scored the 11 runs on 17 hits, while Pinckneyville was held to just one run on four hits.
C.J. Opp got the loss for the Panthers and Michael Rakers drove in the team’s lone run.
With the loss, Pinckneyville finished the season at 18-15.