Cardinal edges Pekin, to face Eddyville today

ELDON ? The bottom of Cardinal?s lineup came through when it needed to, and the Comets lived to play another day with an 8-7 win over Pekin in the first round of regional softball Tuesday in Eldon.

The Comets scored three runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to finish on the winning side of the back-and-forth rivalry battle. In both the final frames, Pekin fielding errors resulted in runs scored for the Comets.

In the sixth inning, Cardinal?s Cory Campbell led off with a single and later scored on a wild pitch, Katie Conger crossed home plate on a fielding error and Sarah Greiner knocked in Liz Nichols to cut Pekin?s lead to one run.

In the final frame trailing 7-5, Campbell and Carly Bennett whacked a pair of clutch singles and Schyler Conger walked to load the bases with one out. Pekin?s lead dwindled to 7-6 when Campbell scored on a wild pitch, and the tying and winning runs crossed the plate on a routine grounder that was misplayed, hit off the bat of No. 9 hitter Morgan Honomichl.

?The bottom of my lineup did its job tonight,? said Cardinal head coach Gerald Harter. ?Anyone on our team can hit the ball, and we had some clutch hits there in the seventh inning.?

In what has been a problem area for most of the season, defense was no doubt Pekin?s Achilles? heel Tuesday. The Panthers committed four errors, and out of Cardinal?s eight runs scored, only four of them were earned off Pekin starter Leslie Stone, who allowed 10 hits and struck out seven.

?Our defense just made some silly mistakes,? Pekin head coach Bryan Marlay said. ?I?ve got to give Cardinal credit. They came out and attacked, but we had an opportunity to stop them with our defense. Our defense just came back and bit us tonight.?

Pekin opened the game holding a 1-0 advantage through three innings, as Cheyann Lankford scored in the first inning off a throwing error. The Comets took their first lead with a two-run fourth inning, but Pekin answered back with a two-run fifth, with Lankford knocking in Tiana Slaney with a triple and Stone singling home Lankford. Pekin also scored three runs in the sixth inning and one in the top of the seventh.

?I knew it wasn?t going to be 16-2 like we played them before because they?re playing a lot better than they were before,? said Harter. ?I knew this game would come down to whoever was batting last, and luckily we batted last.?

Greiner led the Comets on offense going 2 for 4 with a double and RBI. Campbell was 2 for 3 with two runs scored, Katie Conger went 2 for 2 and Schyler Conger doubled and scored twice.

Cardinal starter Laci Moore went all seven innings and allowed just two earned runs to pick up the win. Moore struck out six batters.

For Pekin, Lankford went 3 for 4 from the leadoff spot with a triple and three runs scored, and Stone was 3 for 4 with a two-bagger and three runs knocked in. Tori Davis knocked in one run on 2-for-4 hitting while courtesy runner Slaney scored twice.

Cardinal (22-15) moves on to face Eddyville-Blakesburg today in Eddyville for the second round of Class 2A regionals. The Comets and Rockets have yet to meet in 2012.

Pekin?s season ends with a 22-12 overall record following 11 wins in its last 13 games. Three single-season records were broken, including two by Lankford (runs scored and batting average) and one by Maranda Baker (RBI).

Pekin @ Cardinal

Pekin ? 1 0 0 0 2 3 1 ? 7 11 4

Cardinal ? 0 0 0 2 0 3 3 ? 8 10 3

PEKIN ? Lankford 3-4, 3B, RBI, 3R; Stone 3-4, 2B, 3RBI; Davis 2-4, RBI; Mar. Baker 1-4; Millikin 1-4; Molkenthin 1-4, R; Mad. Baker 1-4; Slaney 2R

Pitching ? Stone (L) 6.1 INN, 8R, 4ER, 10H, 7K, 6BB

CARDINAL ? Greiner 2-4, 2B, RBI; Campbell 2-3, 2R; K. Conger 2-2; Ollom 1-3, R; S. Conger 1-2, 2B, RBI, 2R; Honomichl 1-4, RBI; Bennett 1-1, R; La. Moore RBI; Moses R; McMartin R

Pitching ? La. Moore (W) 7 INN, 7R, 2ER, 11H, 6K, BB