Having lost two previous meetings to Du Quoin this season, the third time was the charm for the Benton Rangers on Saturday as they defeated the host Indians, 7-1, in a Class 2A regional title game.
Benton, 24-11, will face Anna-Jonesboro in a 4 p.m. start in the Harrisburg Sectional today. Host Harrisburg will face Nashville in the other semi-final contest at 6:30 p.m.
It was the first regional championship for the Rangers since winning back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012.
Benton won the title with precise pitching, timely hitting and perfect defense.
Du Quoin's Alex Zimmerman broke a scoreless tie in the third on a home run to right-centerfield. Zimmerman, ironically, was the losing pitcher.
Benton's Hamilton Page tied the game with a leadoff dinger to left in the fourth and the Rangers took the lead for good later in the hitting on some Indians' misfortune. Du Quoin's leftfielder dropped a sure third out off the bat of Dillon Poe. Ian McMahon made the Indians pay for the blunder with an RBI double up the middle.
The Rangers scored another run in the fifth. Tyler Butler hit a soft line drive down the rightfield line to leadoff the inning. Gehrig Wynn then hit a shot up the middle, scoring Butler.
That spelled the end for Zimmerman, who surrendered five hits. He had seven strikeouts and walked one. Reliever Mack Stewart pitched the final three innings, giving up four hits and striking out two.
"He's (Zimmerman) thrown the ball well all year, he just has to eliminate long innings and back-to-back hits. Give their hitters credit. They got them when they had baserunners in scoring position," said Du Quoin coach Kyle Geiger.
The Rangers put the game away in the seventh, culminated by a three-run homer by Parker Williams. Brady Gischer had reached on a fielder's choice and Hamilton Page single to set up the 295-feet blast from Williams.
Wynn, Page and McMahon had two hits each for the Rangers, who had nine hits.
Charley Mercier was the only Du Quoin player to collect a pair of hits.
Ian McMahon was the winning pitcher in dominant fashion. McMahon struck out 11 Du Quoin hitters while going the distance. He allowed six hits and issued just one walk.
"It was probably the best outing of my high school career," McMahon said in a postgame interview. "I was working my fastball in and out. I was trying to sneak a few breaking balls as well but they got kind of flat on me late. I let my defense do as much as they could (to help)."
Benton played error-less defense, getting an inning-ending double play in the third and doubled up a runner at first on a fly ball to center in the fourth.
"We played well all the way. Their kids did a good job the first couple of times through the lineup. Our guys made a couple of adjustments and took advantage of probably the only mistake they made all day. The story was Ian and the defense," said Benton coach Brett Blondi.
"Give credit to Ian. He's a fun pitcher to watch," said Geiger. "He controls the ball, commands the ball very well. We got them the first game of the year but he got us today. With a pitcher like that they're hard to beat, especially when they are on. He threw the ball well."
He added, "To be a good baseball team you've got to make plays and can't give outs away."
"It's been a good rivalry. Happily, we got on top of it today," said Blondi. "Obviously, when you win trophies and plaques it makes things go a lot easier."
Benton advanced to the championship game with a 6-3 victory over Waltonville/Sesser-Valier a week ago.
After spotting the Spartans a 3-0 lead, the Rangers scored two runs in the third on back-to-back dingers from Zach Avery and Butler and then put together a four-run inning in the fourth.
A two-run double off the bat of leadoff hitter Wynn ignited the rally. McMahon also plated a run with a single up the middle.
McMahon was sensational on the mound in a relief role. He faced just one batter over the minimum through 3 2/3 innings. He was hitless while striking out seven Spartans.
Avery was Benton's starter and gave up a three-run homer to Tyler Winchester in the opening frame for Waltonville's only runs. He issued five hits and had three strikeouts. Hamilton Page faced just one batter in the seventh, yielding a hit, and freshman Kael Pearce got the final out of the game on a strikeout.
Benton had nine hits in the contest and committed two errors. Waltonville had six hits, including a pair from Tyler Eubanks. The Spartans finished 10-11.
