The Lady Panthers opened regional play with a 5-0 win over host Murphysboro Tuesday. The game was scoreless until the sixth inning when Maddy Keith and Kortney Crawford hit back-to-back singles. Mo Ramsey followed with a walk to load the bases. Emily Miller broke the scoreless tie with a double off the left center field fence driving home Keith and Crawford. (click on the image to view the photo gallery)

The Panthers rebounded from Tuesday's loss to defeat Seneca 9-5 at home. CJ Opp shutdown the Irish for six innings to record the win. Drew Dudek homered for the second straight game. The Panthers' next opponent is Steeleville at home April 1.

PCHS girls track team competed at the Nashville Invitational March 31. The team placed fourth among five schools competing. Pinckneyville won the 400 meter relay with a time of 54.01 seconds. It also won the 800 meter relay with a time of 1:55.6 seconds. The girls return to Nashville April 7 for its next meet.

The varsity Panthers went to 1-5 for the season after losing to Zion-Benton 9-3 March 30 at home. Drew Dudek and Landon Chandler each homered for the Panthers. The Panthers face Seneca March 31 at home and host Steeleville April 1.

     BY DAN HERBST      PCHS senior Colleen Ryterski gave her own response to the age-old question of, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” “Practice, practice,” of course, but in her case it was art, not music.     Her efforts worked as she has been invited to a national awards ceremony at Carnegie Hall, most noted as a concert venue, in New York on June 9-10.     Colleen’s intricately-beaded wire sculpture “Felicia” has earned an American Visions Award at the national level of the 87th Annual Scholastic Art and Writing competition for 2010.              

The Lady Panthers swept the competition at its own softball invitational by defeating West Frankfort, Altamount and Lebanon during the two-day event. Weather messed with schedules of the tourney forcing the Panthers and Lebanon to battle late into a chilly, wet Saturday night. The Panthers prevailed in the championship game 8-4. Click on the image for more pictures.

The PCHS Music Makers will perform "Once Upon a Mattress" March 25-27 at the school auditorium. The doors open at 6:30 p.m. each night. Tickets are $5 and available at at the administration office on the third floor. Tickets remain for the Thursday and Saturday performances. Friday night's is sold out. This year's performance is "Once Upon a Mattress." The cast includes: Shannon Wright, Jessie Peradotto, Coleman Choate, Trey Cockrum, Josh Kuberski, Shannon Nehrkorn, Gabe Herbst, Bobbi Barnett, Kaitlyn Hagene, Colleen Ryterski, Blake Thornton, Brad Thornton, Dustin McCurdy, Patrick Kovic, Mark Fontana, Hannah Travis, Deanne Brand, Sarah Carlson, Andrea Hernandez, Laine Justynski, Andrea Logsdon, Jessi Ross, Emily Schmidt and Tifany Zenger.

The PCHS Poms placed second in the kick category at the Illinois Drill Team Association state meet at the University of Illinois. Fourteen teams from throughout the state competed in the Class A division of that category. Click on the image to view more pictures.