Lyon County — ranked No. 7 in the state — is the favorite. But the Lyons have three major adversaries lining up behind them as contenders in next week’s 2nd Region baseball tournament.
Lyon (22-6) has been the front-runner since the preseason and has gone 22-2 since getting off to an 0-4 start this season while much of the school’s attention was focused on the state basketball championship.
Caldwell County and Hopkinsville were among the squads to get Lyon early in the season and look to be the biggest challengers along with University Heights Academy.
However, Caldwell and Hoptown have drawn each other in the first game of the regional tournament Monday morning at 10 a.m. at Hopkinsville High School. That means one of the top contenders will be gone before Lyon even plays its first game in the event.
Caldwell has won the second-most games in school history already this season, carrying a 27-6 record and an 11-game winning streak into the regional tourney.
Senior Cole Slone is 8-1 on the mound with a 1.77 earned run average. He leads a Caldwell pitching staff that has a team ERA of 1.85 with three primary starters sporting ERAs of under 2.00.
Ari Wells, part of a deep freshman class at Caldwell, leads the team in hitting for the second straight season at .359. He is also 6-2 on the hill with a 2.13 earned run average.
As a team, the blue-and-gold Tigers hit .298 with 58 extra-base hits, but just two home runs this season.
Hopkinsville (19-9) is led by senior Div. I signees J.J. Thompson (Wright State) and Zach Moss (Kentucky).
Thompson is the ace on the mound for the black-and-orange Tigers, with a 6-1 mark and a 0.86 ERA. He has struck out 118 in 65 innings pitched. Offensively, he hits at a .353 clip with three home runs.
Moss entered postseason play with a .385 batting average.
Caldwell, the 7th District champion, and Hopkinsville, the 8th District runner-up, last met in the regional tournament in 2019, when the two teams squared off at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green in the championship. Hoptown won that day 9-5.
The schools have played 70 times previously, with the all-time series dead even at 35 wins apiece.
Caldwell won the lone meeting this season, 6-3, on April 30.
Caldwell is seeking its first regional title since claiming back-to-back crowns in 2016 and 2017.
The 1 p.m. game Monday pits a pair of border rivals who have not met in the 2nd Region tournament in the last 25 years.
Union County (12-23) won the 6th District tournament while Crittenden County (18-14) was runner-up to Lyon in the 5th District.
The Braves claimed one-run wins over Webster County (6-5 in eight innings) and 2-1 over Henderson County to enter the regional as a district champion.
Union not only enters the regional with some momentum, but also beat Crittenden twice during the season, 6-3 on May 4 and 13-0 on May 11.
The Rockets have been among the leaders in wins in the region for much of the season but have flown largely under the radar.
Union has not won the region since 2014. Crittenden is seeking its first regional title ever.
University Heights Academy and Madisonville-North Hopkins is an interesting matchup in the 4:00 contest on Monday.
The Blazers have fashioned a 23-11 record this season behind the play of the brothers Gibson — Cadence and Courtland.
Cadence Gibson, a sophomore, is hitting .371 with 27 runs batted in while Courtland Gibson, a freshman, is batting .355 with 30 RBIs.
The Gibsons played at Madisonville last season — helping the Maroons win a 7th District championship — before transferring to UHA.
Meanwhile, sophomore Hayden Hunt is hitting .397 and helps lead the Blazer pitching staff with a 3-0 record and 1.39 ERA.
UHA, which won the 8th District last week for the first time since 2001, has never won the 2nd Region championship. The Blazers last won a game in the regional tournament in 2005.
Madisonville has eight region titles to its credit — but none since 1979.
Freshman Aaron Hogart hits .359 to lead the Maroons (14-17).
Brantley Harris, another freshman, is 6-2 on the mound with a 3.00 ERA.
UHA won the only meeting during the regular season 6-2 in Madisonville.
Lyon County and defending regional champion Henderson County will meet in the late game at 7 p.m. Monday.
Junior Eli Baker, who has committed to playing at Radford University, leads a balanced Lyon squad that hits .313 as a team while boasting a 2.24 ERA.
Baker is 6-2 on the hill with a 1.27 earned run average. He is also hitting .347 with two home runs.
Junior Austin Spears has a .385 batting average and has slammed 10 home runs with 39 runs batted in for a Lyon squad that has no seniors.
Korben Lucas, another junior, hits .397 with three homers and 36 RBIs.
Left-hander Brady Belt, also a junior, is 6-0 with a 0.89 earned run average.
Lyon’s one regional crown came in 2021.
Meanwhile, it appears to be a down year for Henderson (10-24), but the school is no stranger to long runs in the regional. The Colonels have won seven-straight first-round games.
Henderson owns 12 regional championships.
The Lyons and Colonels did not meet this season, but split two meetings last year.
Lyon and Henderson have met in the last four regional tourneys. Lyon beat the Colonels 6-0 in the 2021 title tilt, but Henderson won the other three matchups.
The regional semifinals are scheduled for Tuesday at Hoptown’s Tiger Field.
The championship game is set for Wednesday night.
