Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute’s baseball team fell in an elimination game Sunday morning to Northern Essex Community College by a score of 13-9 in the second day of the National Junior College Athletic Association Division Three World Series at TVA Credit Union Ballpark in Johnson City, TN.

Caldwell, who was making the program’s second ever trip to the World Series, finished its season at 36-16. Northern Essex (32-9) advances to another elimination game on Monday where they will face the loser of Sunday night’s winner’s bracket game between top seeded Dallas College-Eastfield and fourth seeded Alexandria Tech (MN).

Caldwell struck early with a pair of runs on three singles in the top half of the first inning. Houston Rector drew a leadoff walk, followed by a Jameson Hodges single. Nathan Pope hit a single to drive in the Cobras’ first run before Jude Lyda’s single to left field plated Hodges.

Northern Essex immediately responded with six runs in the bottom half of the first inning and another seven runs in the bottom of the second inning to stretch their lead to 13-2. Caldwell added a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning. Tripp Dow’s single scored Rector and Hodges scored on an error to draw the Cobras to within nine runs.

Northern Essex looked to end the game via the mercy rule in the bottom of the fifth inning when the first two Knight batters reached on back-to-back walks. Caldwell would retire the next three batters in order to end the threat. In the top of the sixth inning Caldwell added three runs; Pope had his second RBI with a double and Holden Woodward’s two RBI double cut the Northern Essex lead to 13-7.

Jameson Hodges’s solo homerun led off the seventh inning, making the score 13-8. Caldwell’s final run of the season came in the ninth inning, via Pope’s third RBI of the game, resulting in the final score of 13-9.

{Information provided by Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute Athletics}