Carterville, IL — Link to original article: https://bit.ly/421kqxG Everything went wrong for Carterville at the worst time Wednesday afternoon against Marion. Holding onto a 4-1 lead heading into the top of the seventh, the Lions allowed three runs on five hits, allowing the Wildcats to tie the game at 4-4. With the bases loaded and two outs, Alex Lyell got Marion’s Reece Anthony to fly out and send Carterville into the dugout needing one run to win. That’s when things turned back in favor of the Lions. Senior Parker Poole reached first on a fielder’s choice after fellow senior, Logan Ingle, singled and was forced out at second. Poole then advanced to second when Marion pitcher Dylan Bowles balked. Lyell struck out, but Poole stole third, putting him 90 feet away from scoring the winning run. Sophomore Zach Snow laced a single into center field to send Poole home and give Carterville a crazy walkoff 5-4 win over the Wildcats. “We have some guys in that part of the lineup that are high contact, and Zach was able to come up and make something happen,” said Lions rookie head coach Reid Cure. “I’m really proud of him. “That’s the same kid who hit a game-winning shot in a JV game during basketball season; so he’s a guy who was built for the moment.” Cure, who made a mound visit in the top of the seventh, said getting into the situation in the top of the seventh and getting out of it was a big learning experience for his team, especially early in the season. “It was one of those scenarios where you’re going to see what you’re made of as a team,” Cure said. “I didn’t want to over-manage. I wanted to trust my players. “I try to sit back and let them make their plays, and it put is in a position where we had to step up in the bottom half of the inning.” The nonconference contest was a pitching duel for most of the game. Marion scored one run in the third off Poole, who started on the mound for the Lions. The Wildcats’ starting pitcher, Alex Henry, held Carterville to no runs until the fourth and fifth innings, when the Lions scored two runs in each inning. “That was the best I’ve seen Parker throw,” Cure said. “He trusted his stuff, and he trusted his guys. He’s one that could very well go out there and do it himself. He decided that he was going to throw strikes, and if they make contact, they make contact.” Marion head coach Kyle Geiger said Henry’s success came from locating his pitches throughout the game. “Alex keeps the ball down,” Geiger said. “He does a good job of establishing the ball down for strike one and two, then he has a couple of good pitches to complement it. He had a good game for his second outing of the year.” Poole struck out 10 batters in all through five innings of work, meaning only five of his outs were recorded in the field. Aidan Swallers relieved him and worked around two baserunners in the sixth before giving up the three runs in the seventh. “With that change of speed and change of arm, we got locked back in there in the last inning and tried to put something together,” Geiger said. Carterville’s Haiden Lange brought the first run for the Lions and tied the game at 1-1 in the fourth with a bunt after the throw from Henry to first baseman Braden Walsh went to the fence behind the base. Gavin Johnson gave the Lions a 2-1 lead with a single that scored Snow, who singled earlier in the inning and advanced to third on Lange’s bunt. Three straight hits for Carterville started the fifth inning. Ingle led off with a double and was quickly brought in with a single from Poole. Carson Banks, the courtesy runner for Poole, moved up to second after Lyell singled to keep the hit train going. Snow laid a sacrifice bunt down to move both runners another base closer to home. Drake Capie flied out to left field but it was deep enough to score Banks and give the Lions their 4-1 lead after five innings. “What we do really well is finding a way to get runners in motion,” Cure said. “We find ways to get guys on base, and the bunt helped us today. We made a little contact here, a little contact there, get runners in motion. We find an alternate way to get the job done when we can’t put things together.” Geiger said his team made too many mistakes in the field to win the game. “Mental mistakes will kill you in this game,” he said. We didn’t play well enough on defense, and that’s not who we are. We weren’t mentally here today, and it cost us the game.” Ingle led all hitters with a three-hit day. Poole, Lyell, and Snow each recorded two hits in the win. Wildcats Will True and Henry were the only ones to have a multi-hit game for Marion. Gabe Hart, Aiden Pickles, Chase Niemeyer, Bowles, Lange, and Reece Anthony all recorded one hit. Henry pitched five innings and gave up 10 hits while striking out five. Bowles relieved him for 1 and 2/3 innings and gave up two hits and struck out one. Carterville improves to 5-1 and will host Du Quoin next Monday.