Caldwell County pitching produced 15 strikeouts as the Tigers knocked off 1st Region contender Paducah Tilghman 7-3 on Monday at the VFW Ballpark in Princeton.
Gabe East went the first six innings, allowing three unearned runs on just three base hits. He fanned 12 and walked four. Cody Holub pitched a scoreless seventh inning to nail down the victory. He struck out three, walked one and did not allow a hit as Caldwell improved to 13-10 on the season.
Paducah Tilghman (16-7) did all of its scoring in the top of the second inning after a Caldwell throwing error with two outs extended the inning.
But Caldwell battled back in the bottom of the inning with a two-out rally. Walks by Logan Smiley and Levin East were followed by a two-run double to right field by Gabe East, knotting the game at 3-3.
Gabe East and Tilghman starter Brady Betts each put up zeroes until the bottom of the sixth inning.
Caldwell got a leadoff single from Easton Thompson to start the rally. Courtesy runner Hunter Newsom then moved to second following a balk call.
Smiley then delivered a single to center to put Caldwell in front 4-3.
A single by Levin East was followed by another balk, bringing in Smiley to make it 5-3.
Gabe East’s RBI single made it 6-3. Tate VanHooser then singled home one more run to extend the Caldwell lead to 7-3.
Holub surrendered a leadoff walk to Tilghman to start the seventh, but came back to strike out the next three batters to end the ballgame.
Besides his big day on the hill, Gabe East also finished 3-for-3 at the plate with three RBIs and two runs scored. VanHooser was 2-for-4 and drove in two as Caldwell outhit the Tornado 10-3.
The Tigers will face another stiff challenge on Tuesday when they visit defending 2nd Region champion Christian County.
