The Caldwell County Tigers took an early lead and then held on to defeat Crittenden County in a quarterfinal game in the Class A 2nd Region baseball tournament. The Tigers advanced on to the semifinals with a 5-3 win over Crittenden County.
Caldwell County got on the board first in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Shane Burns started things off with a one out double. Bryce Thomas singled to put runners on the corners with one out. Burns ended up scoring on a wild pitch, while Oliver Parker drove in Thomas on a sacrifice fly to give Caldwell County a 2-0 lead.
The Tigers would extend the lead in the bottom of the 3rd inning. After a leadoff walk to Ty Ramey, Gabe East hit a double to center, scoring Ramey to make it 3-0. A Crittenden County error that same inning would allow East to score and extend the Caldwell County lead to 4-0.
The Rockets scored a run in the top of the 6th inning to trim the lead to 4-1. However, the Tigers got the run back in the bottom of the inning when Gabe East hit another double, this time scoring Noah Brown, who had walked, to push the lead back out to 5-1.
Crittenden County scored two runs to cut the lead to 5-3 in the top of the seventh, but Bryce Thomas was able to shut the door on the rally, as Caldwell County held on for the two run win.
Gabe East had a big game for the Tigers, going 2-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs. Shane Burns and Bryce Thomas each went 1-2 in the game.
Bryar Riley went six innings for Caldwell County to pick up the win, while Bryce Thomas pitched the seventh inning to finish out the game.
The win was the 5th in a row for the Tigers and improved their record to 9-2.
