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Executing the plan, Hilton’s Kraus hurls shutout

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Steven Kraus scattered five hits and one walk in Hilton’s 4-0 win over Victor on Wednesday. (Photo: PAUL GOTHAM)

By PAUL GOTHAM

HILTON, N.Y. — Steven Kraus scattered five hits and one walk in a complete-game effort as host Hilton defeated Victor, 4-0 in Section V Baseball action on Wednesday.

The win was the second straight for Hilton (9-2) over its Monroe County Division I rival – both coming by shutout.

Kraus improved to 2-0 on the season with his longest effort at the varsity level.

“It definitely feels great,” Kraus said. “It was a good team win. It’s nice to sweep a team like that.”

Using his two-seam fastball throughout the game, the junior retired seven of eight from the end of the first through the third inning and set down 11 of 12 to close the game.

“I had a pretty good feel on it'” he said of the pitch. “It definitely moved a lot. It wasn’t jumping as much as usual which is why I wasn’t able to get so many strike outs. But I was able to spot it, hit my spots and execute the pitches.”

He worked out of a jam in the fourth with a little help from his team around him. Victor’s Cooper Loyal and Weston Elkovitch reached on back-to-back infield singles to lead the frame. It looked like the Blue Devils had a break through when Jameson Ricigliano singled into right center, but Hilton first baseman Andrew Lenhard alertly took the throw from right-fielder Jeffery Broadnax to erase the runner at second.

“We have a good outfield, good infield and we were able to talk, hit a cutoff man and get a nice play at second base,” Kraus said. “After that, I just locked in and rolled.”

He induced a fly ball to right, and Broadnax held the runner at third with a strike to the plate. The next batter popped up to end the inning.

“This game is tough,” Hilton head coach Kevin Whelehan said. “You’re going to have spots where guys are in scoring position. You got to work through it. Stevie did a great job. We talked a little bit about minimizing the big inning, and he got out of that. It was awesome.”

James Capellupo hurled a complete-game shutout when the two teams met on Monday. Wednesday’s blanking was the third tossed this season by Cadet hurlers.

Wednesday’s effort was the fourth this season that Kraus threw five or more innings. He went six-and-a-third in his previous outing – a 6-1 win over Penfield.

“We were just focusing on pounding the zone and getting ahead,” battery mate Joey Sanna said. “We know they (Victor) are a very good team. A couple of college commits over there. Once they get on the bases, they’re very fast. It was important to get ahead and keep them off.”

“Throughout the game, I wasn’t able to get that many strike outs,” Kraus said. “I just wanted to force as much weak contact as possible Executed the plan.”

With the win, Hilton holds a slight edge over Webster Schroeder (8-2) in the Class AA standings where the top five teams including Victor (7-4) are all within two wins of each other.

“I don’t know if we’re looking too far down the road,” Whelehan said. “It was a good win for today. We know based on past experience that tomorrow’s a whole other day. We take things one day at a time. Big win against a great team, and we know they are going to be a program that’s there at the end. We probably have a chance to see them later in the season.”

Broadnax and Capellupo worked back-to-back base on balls to start the second. Sanna started the scoring with a single through the left side. Capellupo eventually scored on an error for a 2-0 lead.

Brady Gerig started the third with a single. Kraus doubled, and Michael Heise added a run with a sacrifice fly. Capellupo made it 4-0 with sacrifice fly of his own.

Nick McMahon also singled and walked for the Cadets.

Victor’s Mitchell Schalberg finished 2-for-3 in the game. Timothy Buck struck out two over 4.2 scoreless innings of relief for the Blue Devils.

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