Thursday’s 2nd Region All A Classic baseball championship game started just a little before 6 p.m. in Dawson Springs.
About 3 hours and 15 minutes later it ended — in Princeton! — with Crittenden County claiming a 10-0 win over Caldwell County.
The Rockets (6-2) hit Caldwell for four runs in the top of the first inning and never trailed.
Two runs in the second and two more in the fourth extended Crittenden’s advantage to 8-0.
However, as the teams went to the fifth inning it became apparent that not all of the lights were working at the City Park in Dawson Springs. With only about half the lights on and home plate virtually in the dark, officials stopped play.
When it became evident that the situation could not be rectified in a timely manner, the teams made the decision to pack up their gear, get on their buses and continue the contest at the VFW Ballpark in Princeton.
It took just over half an hour for the Rockets and Tigers to make the trip to Princeton and resume action.
Crittenden tacked on two more runs in the seventh inning to extend the final margin to 10-0.
Rocket pitchers Logan Bailey and Ben Evans combined to limit Caldwell to just five base hits. They struck out 11 and walked three.
However, the Tigers (4-3) had baserunners in the contest. They just couldn’t chase them home. Caldwell ended up stranding 10 in the contest.
Caldwell put two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh, but the game ended with first baseman Tyler Boone making a diving stab to rob the Tigers’ Brady Holeman of a base hit and preserve the Rockets’ shutout.
Gabe Mott was 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI for Crittenden while Maddox Carlson went 3-for-4 and knocked in a run. Caden McCalister had a two-run homer in the first inning.
The Rockets will travel to 1st Region All A champion Murray for a sectional contest at a date to be determined. The winner there advances to the state All A Classic April 24-25 in Owensboro.
