With Madisonville-North Hopkins leading 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Caldwell County’s thoughts may have turned to last year’s 7th District baseball championship game.
The Maroons claimed a 1-0 decision in Princeton last season to keep the Tigers from the district championship trophy.
But Caldwell would not suffer that fate a second time.
The Tigers came up with two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to clip Madisonville 2-1 at Hopkins County Central High School and win the district title for the third time in four years.
The Maroons (14-17) put up a strong fight, and took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the top of the sixth inning, aided by a pair of Tiger errors.
But Caldwell loaded the bases with nobody out in the seventh. Channing Puckett, Drew Stevens and David Ginn drew three straight walks to start the frame.
That brought up Carter Whittington, who hit a high chopper to second base on a 2-2 pitch.
Madisonville tried to cut down the lead runner at the plate, but pinch runner Daelyn Lander beat the throw. When the ball got away, Stevens sprinted down the line and did a head-first slide into home plate to give the Tigers the district championship.
It was a day in which offense was difficult to come by.
Madisonville had just three base hits while Caldwell managed just two.
For Caldwell, Cole Slone allowed just the one unearned run on three singles in 5.2 innings of work. He struck out seven and walked four.
Ari Wells (6-2) was the winning pitcher after blanking Madisonville the final 1.1 innings. He struck out three and did not issue a walk.
Meanwhile, Lane Faulk was the tough-luck loser for Madisonville, despite pitching well for 4 innings in relief of starter A.J. Hogart, who tossed the first 2 frames. But Faulk put the first two Caldwell batters on base in the bottom of the seventh — and both came in to score.
Wells had a double for Caldwell while Collin Whittington singled.
Hogart doubled for Madisonville while Xzavier Martin and Matthew Yates each singled.
It was the 13th straight time Caldwell and Madisonville have met in the district championship game. The Tigers are now 9-4 in those matchups.
The 2024 Tigers (27-6) now have the second-most wins in a season in school history. Only the 2nd Region championship team of 2016 won more, going 31-6.
Both Caldwell and Madisonville will play in the 2nd Region tournament next week at Hopkinsville High School.
As a district champion, Caldwell will draw a runner-up, either Crittenden County, Henderson County or Hopkinsville.
As a runner-up, Madisonville will draw either Lyon County, Union County or University Heights Academy.
