BASEBALL: Warriors settle for fourth after loss to Wolf Branch

The Warriors got off to a great start in Thursday's SIJHSAA State third place game against Wolf Branch, but couldn't hang on and had to settle for fourth with a 10-3 loss.

Brian Winters (single) and Alex Zimmerman (RBI double) started the game off with hits for Du Quoin, and Slade West added an RBI on a ground ball giving the Warriors a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

But Wolf Branch took advantage of three walks and an error in the bottom of the second, tossing in a pair of singles to leave the inning up 4-2.

"We got off to such a good start scoring a couple runs," said DMS head coach Tim Craft, "and then coming out and sending them down in order. We kind of put ourselves in trouble by putting a couple runners on, they had a couple hits sprayed in there too, but with the errors it was kind of hard to overcome in a game at this level."

Down 5-2, the Warriors scraped another run across in the top of the fourth on Konner Harris' RBI double, but from that point on Wolf Branch's Sam McAnulty would shut down the Du Quoin lineup, retiring 11 of the last 12 batters he faced.

"Some frustration carried over to the plate," said Craft. "It's tough in this game, especially with so much riding on it. When things are going south, you've got to be able to overcome those things and we just weren't able to today."

Wolf Branch kept tacking on the offense, scoring two in the fourth and three more insurance runs in the sixth.

The Warriors finished their season with a record of 19-5 overall, a conference championship, and a fourth place trophy.

"It's a good group, they grew a lot this season," Craft said. "We didn't really know what to expect. To see these kids from the first day to the end, to take a step forward and win some big games, it's been a lot of fun being around them."

Winters (2-3, R), Zimmerman (1-3, R, RBI, 2B), West (1-3, RBI), Harris (1-3, RBI, 2B) and Trae Horn (1-3) had Du Quoin's hits. Winters took the loss on the mound and was later relieved by Owen Bradley and A.J. Rice.