A 13-run second inning powered Caldwell County into the 7th District baseball championship.
The Tigers routed Dawson Springs 19-0 in three innings in semifinal action Monday at Hopkins County Central High School in Mortons Gap.
Caldwell will take on Madisonville-North Hopkins in Tuesday’s 5:30 championship game. The Maroons (14-16) blanked Hopkins County Central 10-0 in five innings on Monday.
Caldwell, now 26-6, is now tied for second on the school’s single-season wins list with three other Tiger teams. A win on Tuesday would put the 2024 Tigers alone in second place. The school mark for wins in a season belongs to the 2016 squad, which finished 31-6.
Caldwell has won 10 straight games and is chasing the school record of 13 straight wins, also held by the 2016 team.
Freshman Drew Stevens pitched a three-inning no-hitter in the semifinal. He allowed one walk, but that runner was thrown out trying to advance on a wild pitch. So Stevens faced the minimum nine batters — striking out five of them.
Offensively, Luke Parker was 2-for-2 with two runs batted in and three runs scored. Channing Puckett went 2-for-2 with a pair of RBIs and two runs.
Carter Whittington was 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and three runs scored. Derek Wilson finished 2-for-3 and drove in two. Ari Wells was 1-for-1 with a triple, an RBI and two runs scored.
Caldwell totaled 12 base hits to go with four walks and three hit batters.
Dawson ends the season 2-17.
The Tigers have owned the all-time series with the Panthers. Caldwell now holds an 84-9 advantage.
The Tigers have won their last 10 matchups with Dawson and 42 of the last 43 meetings.
A win Tuesday would give Caldwell its third district championship in four years. Madisonville beat the Tigers 1-0 in the final last season in Princeton.
Both Caldwell and Madisonville have earned berths in the 2nd Region tournament next week at Hopkinsville.
