Crittenden County outlasted Trigg County 14-11 in eight innings on Tuesday in a back-and-forth game that featured 25 runs, multiple lead changes, and late drama before the Rockets pulled away in the extra frame.
With the game tied at 9-9 after six innings, Crittenden moved back in front in the seventh. Hudson Stokes singled and later scored on a ground-rule double by Quinn Summers, who later came home on a sacrifice fly by Keagan Pierson for an 11-9 lead.
As they had done throughout the game, the Wildcats rallied again in the bottom of the inning. Grady Oliphant singled, James Garnett reached on an error, and Bentley Reynolds walked to load the bases. Jon Humphries dropped a single into right to score Oliphant and cut the deficit to 11-10. With the bases still loaded, Garnett scored on a wild pitch during Cannon Scott’s at-bat to tie the game at 11-11 and force extras.
In the eighth, the Rockets broke it open for good. Zack Rustin walked, and Stokes singled before Summers ripped another two-run double to left to score Stokes and courtesy runner Jett Champion. Jaxton Duncan followed with a run-scoring double to center, plating Summers for a 14-11 lead.
Trigg loaded the bases in the bottom half of the eighth, but Crittenden escaped when Stokes induced a groundout to seal the win.
Stokes (2-3) picked up the win, striking out four and allowing one hit in 1.2 innings. The Rockets continually put pressure on the Wildcat defense, which committed five errors and allowed seven stolen bases.
Trigg County answered an early Crittenden run with three in the bottom of the first to take a 3-1 lead. Garnett walked and later scored on a single by Jon Humphries to tie the game. After Reynolds walked, Trigg loaded the bases and pushed across two more runs when Cannon Scott and Carson Kline both drew bases-loaded walks, making it 3-1.
The Rockets surged back with four runs in the second. Davis Perryman singled and scored, Rustin added an RBI single, and Duncan delivered a key two-run single that also brought in Eli Lovell.
The Wildcats responded with a five-run second inning to reclaim an 8-5 lead. Garnett singled to start the rally, Reynolds walked, and after Humphries was retired on an infield fly, Brody Calhoun walked to load the bases. Scott followed with a two-run single to score Reynolds and Garnett. Kline then singled to bring home Calhoun, and Noah Hawkins capped the inning with a two-run single that plated Scott and Kline for an 8-5 advantage.
Crittenden chipped away in the third when Drake Young reached on an error and later scored. Lovell drew a bases-loaded walk to cut the Trigg lead to 8-6.
In the fourth, the Rockets pulled even when Pierson and Perryman singled, and Young came through with a two-run single to score both runners and tie the game at 8-8.
After a scoreless fifth, the Rockets grabbed a 9-8 lead in the sixth when Jake Rich walked, moved up on a hit batter and a sacrifice bunt, and scored on Young’s pop-fly single.
Trigg answered when Calhoun doubled, stole third, and scored on Ty Gootee’s RBI single to tie the game at 9-9.
Humphries had two hits and two RBIs for the Wildcats, while Scott added a hit and two RBIs, and Hawkins had a hit and two RBIs.
Duncan had two doubles and four RBI for Crittenden County (5-8, 0-1), and Summers added two doubles and drove in three runs. Young also had two hits and three RBIs.
The 11 runs are the most scored by Trigg County in a loss since a 14-13 setback to Heath in 2011. The Wildcats drop to 3-12 overall and 0-3 in the district. They are mired in a seven-game losing streak, Trigg’s longest in over 25 years. The Wildcats will try to snap the streak on Thursday when they play the Rockets again in Marion.
