After six innings of frustration on Sunday night against Henderson County in the 2nd Region quarterfinals, the Hopkinsville Tigers rallied in their final at-bat only to see it end in heartbreak with the tying run caught between 3rd and home in a 2-1 loss.
The Tigers got a strong effort on the mound from Preston Chaudoin, although his night got off to a rocky start when Henderson took a 2-0 1st-inning lead on back-to-back RBI singles by Bryce Hayden and Andrew Mills.
Chaudoin settled into a groove in the 2nd inning and allowed only two hits the rest of the way. However, Henderson’s Seth Galloway was also dominant, limiting the Tigers to a single hit over five and two-thirds.
After issuing a two-out walk in the top of the 6th, Galloway gave way to Hayden on the mound. Hayden walked two of the first three batters he faced in the 7th ahead of a single by Chaudoin to load the bases with one out.
Zach Moss drove in the Tigers’ first run with a sacrifice fly to left-field, leaving runners on 1st and 2nd with Hoptown down to its last out and Joseph Boor at the plate.
Boor smacked an 0-1 pitch through the right side of the infield, and the Tiger runner attempted to score from 2nd to tie the game. However, the throw from right-field beat the runner home, and he stopped and tried to return to 3rd. Henderson perfectly executed a run-down, tagging out the runner to snuff out the Tigers’ last hope.
Chaudoin allowed five hits and struck out 11 with three walks over six frames while collecting two of the Tigers’ three hits.
Chaudoin’s double to lead off the game was the only hit Galloway surrendered. He also struck out eight and issued four walks. Dax Wilson allowed a single hit and got the final two outs for Henderson.
Trevor Kellen was 2/2 at the plate for the Colonels, and Hayden, Mills, and Dru Meadows each had a hit.
Hopkinsville’s season ends with a record of 13-16. The Tigers failed to advance past the opening round of the region tournament for the first time since 2018.
Henderson improves to 22-10 with its fourth-straight victory and will face Lyon County in Tuesday’s semifinal. The Colonels and Lyons split a pair of games in the regular season, including a 13-2 five-inning Henderson victory in Eddyville on May 13.
