Madisonville-North Hopkins wrapped up the No. 1 seed for the 7th District tournament by outscoring Caldwell County 14-10 in a back-and-forth game Friday in Princeton.
The Maroons (9-11 overall, 5-0 district) led 3-0 early, fell behind 7-4, but then used a nine-run sixth inning to take control of the contest.
Madisonville had just eight base hits in the contest, but were gifted 10 free passes. In addition, Caldwell had seven errors — which led to eight of the Maroons’ 14 runs being unearned.
Madisonville also had trouble at times in the field. Five errors led to only four of Caldwell’s 10 runs being earned.
Luke Barton threw the last three innings for the Maroons and was the winning pitcher. He allowed three unearned runs on two base hits while striking out five and walking two.
Four Caldwell pitchers combined to throw 188 pitches in the seven-inning contest.
Landon Cline was 2-for-3 with three RBIs for Madisonville while Parker Mathis was also 2-for-3. Hunter Gossett homered for the Maroons — a solo shot to left leading off the top of the third inning.
For Caldwell, Logan Smiley was 2-for-4 and knocked in two. Hunter Newsom and Deontaye Walls each doubled.
Caldwell (9-6, 3-2) will likely be the No. 2 seed for the district tournament. The Tigers and Maroons figure to face each other again in the district championship game.
Caldwell is back at the VFW Ballpark on Saturday for an 11 a.m. game against Murray.
Madisonville hosts McLean County at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
