Brady Belt did it to Caldwell County again.
For the third straight time in the last two years, the Lyon County left-hander held the Tigers’ bats in check as the Lyons claimed a victory over their longtime border rivals.
This time, it was a 6-2 victory Monday in the first round of the 2nd Region tournament in Eddyville in a matchup of the top two teams in the region according to the KHSAA’s RPI.
Caldwell (19-7) got to Belt for a pair of early runs, but the Lyon senior settled in after the first inning and allowed just four baserunners the rest of the way.
Channing Puckett drove in a run with a grounder to short and Collin Whittington kncoked in another run with a single into center as Caldwell grabbed a quick 2-0 lead.
Lyon (19-7) drew even in the bottom of the second, getting RBI singles from Belt and Eli Baker to make it a 2-2 game.
That’s where things stayed until the bottom of the fifth inning.
Lyon, the 5th District champion, put its first two men on base when Korben Lucas doubled to left-center and Austin Spears followed with a walk.
Peyton Williams then laid down a sacrifice bunt on the right side, but a wild throw wound up in the outfield, allowing the first two runners to come around and score. That put Lyon up 4-2. John Bingham drove in another run with a groundout to short to make it 5-2.
The Lyons tacked on another run in the sixth inning on an RBI single by Korben Lucas.
Caldwell scratched out singles by Derrick Wilson and Mitchell Phelps in the top of the seventh and needed just one more batter to reach base to get the potential tying run to the plate.
However, a pair of fly balls to left field ended the game — the last tracked down by Lucas just a step in front of the fence.
Belt (5-0) allowed two earned runs on seven base hits while striking out six and walking one.
Puckett (5-3) kept Caldwell in the game for much of the contest but suffered the loss. He allowed three earned runs on seven base hits while striking out three and walking seven in 5.1 innings.
Belt also finished 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI. Lucas was 2-for-4 and drove in a run for Lyon.
Westin King was 2-for-3 for Caldwell.
The Lyons have now taken five straight from the Tigers and 10 of the last 13 matchups.
Lyon will next face Henderson County in the semifinals Tuesday night at Lee S. Jones Park. The Colonels blanked Christian County 2-0 in their first-round contest on Monday.
