Mayes pitches Colonels past Caldwell into region final

The Christian County Colonels rode the arm of senior Andrew Mayes and got some timely hitting to defeat Caldwell County 4-0 Wednesday night in the Region 2 Baseball Tournament at University Heights Academy.

Mayes struck out nine batters and scattered six hits while pitching a complete-game shutout for the Colonels (23-15). The senior right-hander outdueled Caldwell County ace Ari Wells, who struck out eight and walked three in four innings.

The two teams battled to a scoreless tie through three innings before the Colonels solved Wells.

Layton Creamer was hit by a pitch to lead off top of the fourth inning and Layton Lindsey entered as a courtesy runner. Lindsey quickly stole second base and moved to third on a wild pitch. Gavin Mitchell then hit a sacrifie fly to right field and Lindsey beat the throw to the plate to give the Colonels a 1-0 lead.

Sebastian Dazey kept things going as he singled and came around to score on a single by Dylan Sweeney to push the lead to 2-0.

Christian County struck again for two runs in the top of the fifth and chased Wells before he could get an out. Chase Fort singled and moved to second base on a wild pitch. Coalton Ingram entered as a pinch runner and after a walk was issued to Blake Boehman, went to third on a single by Creamer.

There was some confusion on the basepaths and the Tigers eventually caught Creamer going back to first base for the first out. Mitchell grounded out to short and Ingram scored to push the lead to 3-0. Boehman came in to score on an error for a 4-0 advantage.

From there, it was the Mayes show. The senior mowed down 12 of the last 13 batters he faced including the final six in a row as the Colonels celebrated making their first Region 2 Baseball Tournament championship game since 2023.

Presten Alfred and Wells both collected two hits for the Tigers, who saw their season end at 22-11.

The Colonels will play host UHA in tonight’s championship game. It is a rematch of last week’s District 8 final, which Christian County won 2-1. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. with airtime set for 5:45 p.m. on 95.3 The Farm and 953thefarm.com.

Score by Innings:

Christian County 000 220 0 – 4 6 0

Caldwell County 000 000 0 – 0 6 2

WP – Mayes (7 IP, 9 SO, 1 BB).

LP – Wells

Leading Hitters: Christian County – Gage Montes (1B), Fort (1B), Creamer (1B), Mitchell (1B), Dazey (1B), Sweeney (1B).

File Photo