CARTERVILLE — The 2021 version of the Carterville Lady Lions may be a bit ahead of their time. With 15 freshmen and sophomores on the 20-player roster, the Lady Lions figure to be a handful in a few years.

As the SIRR Mississippi found out, they’re a handful now, clinching the conference title outright with a 2-0 win over Pinckneyville.

Freshman Amayah Doyle scored a run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the first, then drove Kayelyn Rice with an RBI triple in the bottom of the third. Another freshman, Lacie Carr, made it stand thanks to the ability to work out of trouble.

The Lady Panthers had runners on base all game long, but they could not get a run across against Carr. Pinckneyville left 12 runners on base, and hit into inning and game ending double plays in the sixth and seventh innings.

Carterville finishes 9-1 in conference play. Pinckneyville is 7-2 with a suspended game to finish against Du Quoin Thursday.