Caldwell County picked up a bounce-back win on Monday.
After a disappointing 10-3 loss to Paducah Tilghman that ended a four-game winning streak on Saturday, the Tigers got back on track Monday with a 5-2 victory over Hickman County at the VFW Ballpark.
Caldwell, now 16-7, handed Hickman pitcher Kobe Yamauchi his first loss of the season. The Falcon junior had started the season 9-0 with a 0.44 earned run average.
But the Tigers got to Yamauchi for two runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Three straight singles by Presten Alfred, Ari Wells and Derek Wilson produced the first run of the game. Another run came in on a groundout to first by Mitchell Phelps.
Hickman (18-6) got on the scoreboard in the top of the third on an RBI single by Jax Hunter.
Caldwell got that run back and more in the bottom of the inning when Wells singled home Alfred, who had reached on a one-out single. Phelps then knocked home Wells with a single to center to put the Tigers up 4-1.
Hickman loaded the bases with one out in the fourth and got one run when Drew Cunningham was hit by a pitch. However, an out at the plate and a strikeout ended the inning.
Caldwell picked up an insurance run in the sixth when Drew Stevens singled with one out and later scored on a wild pitch.
Phelps was the winning pitcher for the Tigers. He went the first 3.1 innings, allowing two earned runs on two hits.
Ethan Ramage earned the save. He tossed the final 3.2 innings, shutting out Hickman on two hits.
Wells was 2-for-2 with a run batted in and two runs scored. He is now hitting .548 this season.
Alfred went 2-for-3 and scored twice.
Hunter was 2-for-4 with an RBI for Hickman.
Caldwell and Hickman have met just four times, with the Tigers winning all four meetings. Monday’s matchup was the Falcons’ first visit to Princeton.
Caldwell will play again on Thursday when it hosts Graves County.
