One down for Pekin softball

EDDYVILLE ? Pitching and defense has driven the Pekin softball team all year, and with its season on the line Thursday, pitching and defense brought them through.

The Panthers took a one-run lead before tacking on four more in the fifth inning to come away with a 5-0 victory in their opening round regional game against Eddyville-Blakesburg. Pekin now moves on to play Mid-Prairie ? winners of a 10-0 five inning game vs. Sigourney Thursday.

The couple days of rest leading up to Thursday didn?t serve Pekin too well according to head coach Bryan Marlay who says his team needed some adjustment time before the big fifth inning.

?With a couple days off, it was like playing on a Monday again and we just came out a little flat,? he said. ?We hit the ball hard in the first inning but the Eddyville pitcher made some adjustments and we didn?t hit the ball well all night.?

Pekin scored its five runs on six hits ? three of which came from Jessi Martin, who also showcased the defensive prowess that Marlay has been preaching from day one. From her shortstop position, Martin made play after play while teammate Shelby Blakely locked down the rest of the infield?s left side. One Blakely diving catch put an end to an Eddyville threat and prevented at least one run from crossing the plate.

With the lead, starting pitcher Mycaela Crouse held up her end allowing just five Eddyville hits and closing out the game with 12 straight outs. Crouse struck out four in the full seven innings of work to earn the win. Martin?s three hits came from just three plate appearances while the three other hits came from Jessica Deutsch, Kira Swanson and Dominque Tolle.

With the win, Marlay?s team gets what it wants with a game on consecutive nights as they travel to Mid-Prairie tonight for its second round game against the Golden Hawks.

?We love playing on back-to-back night and if we had our way we would be playing four nights in a row,? said Marlay. ?Once you?re in a rhythm you want to stay in a rhythm. We tried on Wednesday to play a simulated game, but it?s still practice and there?s nothing like playing the real thing.?

Mid-Prairie boasts two solid pitchers and Marlay continued to say that he expects tonight to be a low scoring affair. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.