Madisonville-North Hopkins ace Alex Gray allowed just one unearned run on six base hits as the Maroons ended Caldwell County’s seven-year run as 7th District champion.
Gray and the top-seeded Maroons downed Caldwell 5-1 Tuesday in the district title tilt at Hopkins County Central High School in Mortons Gap.
senior Gray (9-2) struck out three and walked just one while throwing 73 pitches in the complete-game effort on the mound.
Meanwhile, Ethan Browning was 3-for-3 with a double and two runs scored while Jonathan Wagoner was 2-for-3 and knocked in two to give Madisonville its first title since 2011.
Wagoner singled home a run with two outs in the bottom of the second inning to put Madisonville (20-14) up 1-0.
Jon Hogart drove in another run with a sacrifice fly to right in the third inning to make it 2-0.
A three-run fourth then put the Maroons in control. Wagoner singled to center to plate the first run of the inning. Two more runs came in on an error to extend the margin to 5-0.
Caldwell’s only run came in the top of the sixth inning when John Davis reached on an error and came in on Easton Thompson’s RBI single to right. But the Tigers (16-15) could never sustain a rally against Gray.
No one had more than one base hit for Caldwell. Cody Holub had the only extra-base hit with a double.
Caldwell starter Bryar Riley went 3.1 innings, allowing just two earned runs on seven hits. He struck out five and walked one. Deontaye Walls allowed just one hit in 2.2 innings of relief.
Caldwell and Madisonville met in the district championship game for the 10th straight year.
Both teams now advance to the 2nd Region tournament, which will get underway on Monday at Union County.
