Carterville, IL — Written by John Homan of The Southern (https://thesouthern.com/news/big-sixth-inning-lifts-du-quoin-nine-past-lions/article_39382931-3739-58af-89bc-235480a06b18.html) CARTERVILLE — Lions senior pitcher Logan Ingle had Du Quoin shut out through five innings (1-0) on just one hit — a second-inning double off the bat of senior Jaden DeMarie. But things changed drastically in the top of the sixth. Tilden Henderson led off the frame with a single to center. Dedrick Melvin flew out to left for the first out. Jayden Anders blooped a single to shallow right, advancing Henderson to second. A walk to Noah Siefert loaded the bases with one out. Senior Luke Bauman then lifted a fly ball to medium-deep left field. Henderson tagged and raced toward the plate. Lions left fielder Parker Poole caught the ball for the second out and threw a strike to the plate, but just a little up the third-base line. Catcher Gavin Skelcher tried to field the ball and make the tag all in one motion, but was unable to hang onto the ball and Henderson scored the tying run off the sacrifice fly for a 1-1 score. DeMarie followed with what proved to be a game-winning double to right center — his second double of the game — driving in two runs for a 3-1 lead. Max Zimmerman then popped up into shallow right and the Lions failed to make the catch, resulting in an RBI single and 4-1 lead. Ingle finally retired Jayden Davis on a groundout to third to end the inning, but the damage had been done. “I wasn’t seeing the ball very well at the beginning of the year, but today, I saw a couple of nice fastballs and was able to put the bat on the ball. It felt good,” said DeMarie. Asked of the importance of winning the game in comeback fashion on the road against a quality team in Carterville, DeMarie said it was huge. “We had been battling hard, but struggling (4-5 record going into the game Monday),” the senior said. “I’m just glad we were able to get some hits and runs for Cy because he pitched great today. This team has a lot of potential. If we can keep playing like we did today, I feel we can be pretty good.” Du Quoin head coach Tim Davis concurred that the win was important to build the team’s morale. “We definitely needed this,” he said. “It seems like we’ve been down every game the last three or four games. We’ve been hitting the ball hard, but they’ve been finding some gloves. “Today, we found a few holes,” Davis said. “We took good at bats. It was good to see the kids stay positive at the plate. And Cy gave us a chance every inning.” Davis said Craft is a special talent. “With Cy, it’s velocity,” the coach said. “He throws hard. He threw his curve for strikes, too, including a 3-1 pitch on one occasion. Having confidence in his pitches like he does is big for a pitcher. Cy knows how to pitch.” Davis also spoke highly of DeMarie coming through in the clutch. “We’ve got guys who I’m happy as heck for,” he said. “And Jaden is one of those. It was good to see a senior like him step up and get that hit.” The Indians tacked on an insurance run against relievers Carson Banks and Aidan Swallers to make it 5-1. Carterville’s Alex Lyell reached on an error to start the seventh, but Zach Snow struck out looking, Gavin Johnson bounced into a fielder’s choice, and Haiden Lange grounded out to second to end the game. Sophomore Cy Craft went the distance in picking up the win for Du Quoin. He allowed only one run on five hits — all singles — and struck out seven while walking none. He did hit one batter. The Lions scored their one run in the fifth inning when Snow reached on an error, advanced to second on an infield single, stole third, and scored on a double play grounder off the bat of Lange. Carterville was its own worst enemy at times, running into five outs on the basepaths. “I’m not upset with the boys. We preach aggressiveness,” said Lions first-year head coach Reid Cure. “It’s the way we want to play. We want to play fast and put pressure on the other team. “In that first inning when Aidan Swallers got on and got thrown out at third base, I was happy with that,” Cure said. “We needed to know that they could make throws from foul territory (first-base side) across the infield. “There were some times when maybe we could have throttled down a little bit, but I’m never going to tell my guys to stop being aggressive because at some point it’s going to pay off for us in a big moment.” Cure was pleased with the work of Ingle. “Logan was a dog today,” he said approvingly. “We had some conversations at school and I told him that he needed to be locked in and ready to go. And for the most part today, he called his own game. “He had the confidence to throw a full-count change up and mix up his looks,” Cure said. “I was really proud of him. He showed me the type of young man that is going to commit to pitch at the next level.” Cure also spoke highly of Craft. “That’s a talented young man,” he said. “He’s not afraid to fill the zone up with strikes. He spins two pitches in there really well. He’s got a bright future ahead of him.” Carterville is scheduled to play at Vienna Thursday, will host Cape Notre Dame on Friday, and play at Marshall County, Kentucky on Saturday. The Indians play a nonconference game at Mount Vernon Tuesday.