Caldwell County rode the pitching of Bryar Riley and some timely hitting into the 2nd Region baseball championship game.
Riley threw 99 pitches in a complete-game effort, scattering five base hits as the Tigers turned back Christian County 6-2 in Tuesday’s semifinal round.
The senior right-hander allowed just one earned run while fanning five and walking two to get Caldwell to the regional title game for the third time in four years.
The Tigers, who claimed 2nd Region crowns in 2016 and 2017, trailed only 1-0 early in the game.
Christian (17-15) took the quick lead when Wyatt Stevenson’s grounder to short plated a run.
However, Riley worked out of a first-inning jam by picking a runner off of second base, then recording a strikeout to keep it 1-0.
Caldwell (18-15) was quick to respond. Oliver Parker singled on the infield and stole second. He scored when Tate VanHooser lined a single to right with one out.
VanHooser later stole third base and came in to score on a throwing error to put the Tigers up 2-1.
That’s where the score remained until the fifth, with Riley and Stevenson both looking solid on the hill.
Caldwell scratched out a two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth, with Gabe East scoring from first on a bad-hop single by Oliver past the second baseman. That gave the Tigers a 3-1 advantage.
The Colonels crept to within 3-2 in the top of the sixth. Eric Silvy was hit by a pitch to start the inning then Elijah Underhill singled. Two outs later, Lane Diuguid doubled to center to plate the run and put runner at second and third. However, a fly ball to center ended the inning and left Caldwell clinging to a one-run lead.
But the Tigers added lots of insurance in the bottom of the sixth. A two-run single by Levin East through a drawn-in infield with the bases loaded and one out made it a 5-2 game. A sacrifice fly to center by Gabe East brought home another run to push the margin to 6-2.
Christian put a pair of runners on base in the top of the seventh inning but could never get the potential tying run to the plate. Riley got the final out of the game on a liner to right that was snagged by Parker.
Parker finished 2-for-3 at the plate for Caldwell, which out-hit Christian 7-5.
The Tigers will take on either Hopkinsville or Henderson County on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
The 2nd Region champion will advance to sectional play against the 1st Region champ this Saturday at Western Kentucky University.
