Ari Wells not only fanned 10 and gave up just two base hits, he also had a two-run homer and drove in four runs to help Caldwell County return to the 7th District championship game.
Wells and the Tigers dispatched Hopkins County Central 10-0 in six innings Monday night at the VFW Ballpark in Princeton.
Caldwell (19-10) will take on Madisonville-North Hopkins (8-20) in Tuesday’s 6 p.m. championship game.
The Maroons blanked Dawson Springs 10-0 in five innings behind a perfect game on the mound from Cadence Gibson. He struck out 12.
The Tigers and Maroons have met in the title tilt every year the tournament has been held going back to 2010.
Caldwell has won the last two district championships and nine of the last 10. Only Madisonville’s title in 2019 keeps the Tigers from having 10 straight championships. (There was no tournament in 2020 because of COVID-19.)
Wells (4-3) walked three and allowed just a pair of singles in 5.2 innings on the mound. Hopkins Central (4-19) had only one runner reach as far as second base.
At the plate, Wells went 3-for-4 and had four RBIs.
Wells knocked in a run with a groundout as Caldwell put up two runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Wells hit a deep home run to right field in the third as Caldwell added three more runs. Collin Whittington added an RBI single as the Tigers stretched their lead to 5-0.
Brady Holeman and Wells each had run-scoring singles in the fourth to make it 7-0.
Ben Goodaker had an RBI single in the fifth and another run scored on an error to extend the margin to 9-0.
Goodaker drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth inning to force in the game-ending run and give Caldwell its 10-0 victory.
Jamus Carneyhan, Holeman and Collin Whittington were each 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Tigers. Goodaker went 1-for-2 and drove in two.
Gaige Brasher had both base hits for the Storm, going 2-for-3.
Caldwell ran its winning streak against Hopkins Central to 16 games.
