Tate VanHooser homered twice and Cody Holub also went yard, but Caldwell County dropped a 13-12 decision in a shootout at Henderson County on Saturday afternoon.
Caldwell, now 10-9, scored three times in the top of the sixth inning to take a 12-11 lead. Blake Stallins, Cody Holub and John Davis had RBI singles in the stanza.
However, Henderson (14-9) scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to regain the lead. Ethan Cartwright drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out single to left field.
The teams battled back-and-forth, and fought through rainy weather, before Henderson pulled out the one-run triumph.
VanHooser’s three-run home run in the top of the first put the Tigers up early.
Henderson scored four times in the second to go up 6-2, then added three runs in the third to make it 9-2.
Caldwell scored three times in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to regain the lead.
In the fourth, Logan Smiley tripled home a pair of runs to help get the Tigers within 9-6.
Henderson went up 11-6 in the bottom of the frame.
But Caldwell trimmed the margin to 11-9 in the fifth. VanHooser’s second home run of the game was a two-run shot in that inning. Holub followed with a solo shot to make it a two-run game.
The Tigers regained the lead in the top of the sixth, only to see Henderson get it back in the bottom of the inning.
Holub finished the game 3-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored. VanHooser was 2-for-5 with five runs batted in. Gabe East went 3-for-5 while John Davis and Easton Thompson was each 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Cartwright was 3-for-3 with a home run and knocked in three runs for the Colonels. Cartwright, who has signed to play college baseball at the University of Pikeville, was also the winning pitcher in relief.
It wasn’t the first time the Tigers and the Colonels have played a 13-12 game. Caldwell won in Henderson by that same score in the championship game of the 1991 2nd Region tournament.
