From staff reports

At least the Pike County Pirates had to work for this one.

After blowing out their first three Region 5-AA opponents, the Pirates were pushed by the visiting Callaway Cavaliers on Tuesday.

The Cavaliers scored a run in the top of the fifth to get within one, and they had the tying and go-ahead runs on base when they hit into an inning-ending double play.

The Pirates promptly put four more runs on the board in the bottom of the inning, and they won 6-1 to improve to 5-0 in region play.

The Cavaliers (6-3 overall) fell to 4-2 in region play with their second straight loss.

Callaway lost to Manchester 7-6 on Friday.

The Cavaliers’ biggest shortcoming against the Pirates was their inability to put anything together at the plate.

Tavin Thompson and Kane Keith had the Cavs’ only two hits.

“We couldn’t get anything going,” Callaway coach Dusty Hubbard said. “We weren’t very aggressive. We took too many pitches. We got ourselves behind in the count. That was the most disappointing thing.”

Keith, a freshman left-hander, started and pitched into the fifth inning before running into trouble.

Chris Laye did a nice job in relief for the Cavs.

The Cavs got their lone run when Daniel Crowe reached on a fielder’s choice in the fifth, allowing a run to score. The Cavs had runners on first and third with one out, but a double play ended that threat.

The Pirates hit a pair of home runs in their half of the fifth to get some breathing room.

Callaway returns home today to take on Northside at 5:30 p.m. in a non-region game.

Callaway returns to region play on Friday with a home game against Crawford County.