Anna-Jonesboro committed five errors in the game, and the final error on a ground ball hit by Taylor Cicardi in the bottom of the seventh inning gave Pinckneyville a 3-2 win in the Murphysboro 2A softball regional championship game Saturday.
The win gave the Lady Panthers their seventh consecutive regional title and set a new school record for consecutive victories with 21.
The regional title was number 17 for coach Greg Hale, who plans to retire at the end of the season after 27 years leading the program.
Anna-Jonesboro scored the game’s first run, with a single tally in the top of the third inning.
Pinckneyville tied the game with a lone run in the bottom half of the third.
Both teams scored single tallies in the fifth inning, as the game came down to the final out in the seventh between these two SIRR Mississippi Division rivals.
Emily Chapman earned the win, as she came in to pitch in relief of starter Sara Malanowski in the fifth inning.
Mo Ramsey paced the Pinckneyville offense, going 2-for-4, while Dani Jenkel, Cicardi, Maddie Keith and Kortney Crawford all had a hit each.
With the win, the Lady Panthers improved to 35-1 on the season and advanced to the Carterville Sectional to play Herrin.

Anna-Jonesboro 6
Sparta 3
Sparta’s season came to an end Thursday with a 6-3 loss to Anna-Jonesboro in the semifinals of the Murphysboro 2A softball regional.
The Lady Bulldogs took advantage of some shaky Wildcat pitching and defense to push across an early tally, taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Anna-Jonesboro pitcher Lindsey Patterson came out with some early game jitters, walking one and throwing a pass ball but ended the first inning with two strikeouts.
AJ responded with three runs in the second inning to jump to a 3-1 lead, a lead they would not relinquish. Two singles and two walks in the inning led to the three-run outburst. Later the Lady Wildcats, would tack on single runs in each of the next three innings. 
Sparta made a comeback of sorts as the team tallied a run in the fifth behind a walk to Jade Vaughn who would score from first on a two-out RBI single from senior Taylor Martin. 
The Bulldogs again mounted a rally late in the seventh inning as Vaughn led off with a single, while the next two batters hit into force outs before Julian Sroka and Shanell Roberts reached on two-out singles one of which scored Martin, making the score 6-3 and bringing the tying run to the plate. An innocent fly ball to center field ended not only the game but the season for the Lady Bulldogs.
Freshman pitcher Alexis Kohrs took the loss, dropping her personal record to 9-6, while the overall team record ended at 17-7. Shanell Roberts went 2-for-4 on the day with an RBI. Taylor Martin was 1-for-4, while Julian Sroka and Taylor Craig were each 1-for-3. Jade Vaughn picked up the other hit, going 1-for-2 with a run scored.
“We just did not play as well as we needed to win a game against such a quality team,” said Sparta coach Roger Gerlach. “We knew coming into this regional, it was going to be tough, with two teams ranked in the top 10 in the state. Yet we still competed and gave ourselves a chance. We just came up short.”
Martin played in her last game for Sparta, ending her career with a batting average at .362 over the four seasons of play. She had 109 hits in 301 at-bats. Her slugging percentage ended at .532. 

In other 2A softball regional action, Gibault knocked off Red Bud 3-1 in the semifinals of the Columbia Regional Wednesday. Gibault won the regional championship Saturday with a 3-1 victory over Columbia.