The Craig County baseball team is scheduled to open the Region 1C tournament on Thursday, May 23rd. The Rockets will take on defending Class 1 state champion Auburn in Riner.
Craig County lost a third place game in the Pioneer District tournament at Eastern Montgomery on Monday, 8-3. With the loss the Rockets are now 5-12 on the season.
Hayden Reynolds and Matthew Lucas split time on the mound Monday. The Mustangs took a 6-0 lead with three runs in the second and three in the third but Craig trimmed the advantage to 6-3 when the Rockets plated three in the top of the fourth. That was the end of their scoring, however, and the Mustangs put two insurance runs on the board in the bottom of the fourth.
Last week the Rockets opened the Pioneer District tournament with an 11-2 loss to Parry McCluer in Buena Vista. The Rockets struck first with a run in the first inning and trailed just 3-2 after three and a half innings before the Blues tacked three on the board in the bottom of the fourth, then scored five runs in the sixth to put it away.
Craig had five hits, including two by Reynolds, and Hayden also drove in a run. Jaycob Wolfe singled, walked and scored twice for Craig and Drew Duncan and Joseph Charette also had hits. Wolfe had three stolen bases.
Duncan started on the mound and took the loss. He allowed just two hits in three innings but he walked seven. Lucas pitched the last three innings and gave up two earned runs while striking out three.
The Rockets will have their work cut out for them against Auburn. The Eagles come into the week at 19-1. Their only loss was to Class 4 Blacksburg to open the season in March and they avenged that loss with a 2-0 shutout win over the Bruins in April.
