Craig's pitching lifts Royals to title

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BIG ROCK -- Colton Craig may have been sick the day they took the Hinckley-Big Rock team photo that appears in the tournament program, but the junior right-hander was a big part of the picture in Saturday's 3-2 regional championship victory over Indian Creek.

Craig struck out seven and limited the Timberwolves to just four hits in going the distance and helping the Royals preserve a second one-run triumph over their Little Ten Conference rivals. In addition to improving to 12-16, Hinckley-Big Rock captured its first regional title in baseball and a berth in Wednesday's 4:30 p.m. Lena-Winslow Sectional semifinal. H-BR faces Lanark Eastland, which won the Freeport Aquin Regional slipping past Dakota 4-3.

Indian Creek starter Josh Lazzarotto, who tallied one of his regular-season victories when IC downed H-BR 7-1 at home on May 4, was tagged with the loss on Saturday to finish with a 5-4 mound record. Rather than have the season end at 21-11, the Timberwolves were hoping to claim a rubber-match meeting by avenging a 6-5 Royals victory at H-BR on May 5 when Craig came on in the seventh to post a save.

Saturday's title showdown at Kenny Field was scoreless until the top of the fourth when Hinckley-Big Rock's Jake Paver narrowly beat the throw for a leadoff single and moved to second when Craig reached via an error. Paver advanced to third on Jack Peter's sacrifice and raced home on an errant throw to third by T-Wolves catcher Danny Jensky.

"We really beat ourselves with our errors," Indian Creek coach Mike Kiffin noted. "Quite honestly, Josh pitched a good game, but defensively we beat ourselves. We had more mistakes and they capitalized on all of them."

Actually Indian Creek negated that run in the bottom of that frame as Lazzarotto doubled to right field and scored on Josh Johnson's solid single to left. Unfortunately for the Timberwolves, an interference call helped end a two-on, one-out threat.

In the top of the fifth, Paver led off for H-BR by drawing a walk and then advancing to second on Craig's groundout. The Royals' senior center fielder was ruled safe stealing third on a play that didn't sit well with Indian Creek coaches or fans, particularly when Paver scored after Dillon Johnson cracked a shot to left for his second double of the game. Kyle Micheal, who was 2-for-3 on the day, followed with a double to right-center to make it 3-1 in favor of the host Royals.

Indian Creek produced a partial answer in the bottom half as Ryan Fox's leadoff walk gave him the chance to steal second and move to third on a Trevor Foster groundout. The Timberwolves' Johnson plated Fox by smashing a double to right-center, but he became the fourth of six IC batters to be left stranded,

Lazzarotto recorded his fifth and sixth strikeouts of the pitcher's duel in the sixth before Nate Peterson relieved him for the top of the seventh to keep the top of the H-BR order from expanding the lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, Craig mirrored how he started the contest, striking out the first H-BR batter swinging and the second Royals hitter on a called third strike. A foul pop snared by first baseman Ryan Mickels then triggered the postgame celebration.

"Colton's pitching was certainly a big key to today's game, plus we had some pretty solid defense overall," first-year H-BR coach Matt Olson said. "We also had a couple really big hits from Dillon and Kyle. It all made for a nice win and getting a first plaque for baseball."

And it allowed for the Royals to pose for a new team picture, this time including Craig and a trophy.

"It's so sweet," added Craig, whose own ledger improved to 4-6. "I just went out there today trying to hit my spots and let the defense play behind me. We finished the regular season winning three in a row, now two in regionals. It doesn't matter who we play next, the bottom line is we're there." Baseball: Class 1A H-BR Regional