Caldwell County’s seventh-inning comeback bid fell just a little short.
The Crittenden County Lady Rockets held off the Lady Tigers 10-8 Monday in Princeton in a 2nd Region All A Classic quarterfinal round matchup.
Down 10-6 in the bottom of the seventh, Caldwell scored twice and got the potential tying run to the plate. However, Crittenden hurler Anna Boone retired the next three hitters to end the game and send the Lady Rockets on to the semifinal round.
Andrea Federico was 4-for-5 with a triple and six runs batted in to lead Crittenden, which will next face Lyon County in the semifinals at University Heights Academy. That game is tentatively set for Tuesday.
Elliot Evans went 4-for-5 and scored three times for the Lady Rockets, who are now 7-7.
Caldwell (10-5) fell behind 3-0 in the top of the first inning, but scored four times in the bottom of the frame to go up 4-3.
The Lady Rockets scored four times in the fourth to go back in front 7-4, but Caldwell got two of those runs back in the bottom of the inning to get within 7-6.
Crittenden tacked on two more runs in the fifth, then got a very important insurance run in the top of the seventh on an RBI single to right by Federico.
That run proved huge when Caldwell cut the gap to 10-8 in the bottom of the seventh and had a runner at third with nobody out. Had that been the tying run at third, the Lady Tigers likely would have approached the rest of the inning differently.
Boone struck out 10 and allowed two earned runs on six base hits in her seven innings of work.
Brylee Butts led the Caldwell offense with a 4-for-4 day. Carlee Palm was 2-for-3 and drove in four while Harper Holeman was 2-for-4 and knocked in two.
Caldwell had taken three straight from the Lady Rockets.
The Lady Tigers still lead the all-time series 44-13.
