Lucas Hilton has played baseball and basketball at Crothersville High School for the past three years, but there is no doubt what his favorite sport is.

“I like baseball,” he said. “I just really like my teammates. I’ve been going to school with these kids for such a long time, I know them all and I just think it’s really cool.”

There were several first-year players on the roster this spring, and Hilton said he tried to help and teach them.

“They know enough to just play. There are a lot of little things we don’t know how to do,” he said.

Hilton, who just completed his junior season with the Tigers, received the most outstanding player award at the spring athletic program for getting 30 hits and having 92 strikeouts and 42 stolen bases.

He set the season stolen base record this spring to break James Land’s mark set in 1976-77. Hilton tied Mike Couch’s record for hits in a season with 30. He had 24 singles and six doubles this season and batted .517.

Hilton batted in the No. 2 position for the Tigers this spring, and he said he looks for a fastball, especially early in the count.

“Most of the time, it matters about the count as to what the pitcher is going to throw. The first two or three pitches are probably going to be fastballs, and then after that, it’s probably going to be a change-up or curveball. It’s just a matter of what the count is,” he said. “I like to stop and see where the defense is, and then I’ll try to hit in a hole. That’s what I did better this year, and I got my batting average up higher.”

Hilton said he began playing baseball at the age of 8 in a recreational league in Crothersville. He then played one year of travel ball with the Columbus Blazers and three years of travel ball with a team from Scottsburg.

Hilton said he enjoys playing shortstop. He received the defensive award and had a defensive percentage of .913. Hilton said he has confidence in his ability to make strong throws to first base.

He also has done a lot of pitching for the Tigers. This spring, he pitched 43.1 innings and had 92 strikeouts and 43 walks, a 4.68 earned run average and an opponents’ batting average of .210.

“I like pitching, too,” he said. “I throw a knuckleball, a fastball, a slider and change-up.”

He said the pitch that has the most movement is his knuckleball.

“What I mainly throw is my knuckleball. It has such a good break to it. That is usually my strikeout pitch,” he said. “I just like to go out there and pitch. I think it helps out our team a lot.”

Lucas’ father, Eric, is head coach of the Tigers.

“He coached the very first rec league team I played on for a couple of years. In travel ball, there were two or three years where he was an assistant, and he would just help,” Lucas said.

He said he enjoys playing for his father.

“Sometimes, we’ll talk about our games at home and maybe something we could try to do better as a team,” he said.

Hilton, who averaged four points per game in basketball this past winter, said he is looking for a big senior year in both sports.

“Hopefully, I can break a couple more (baseball) records,” he said.

Hilton was named to the all-Shawe Memorial Sectional team. He went 2-for-3 at the plate and had seven strikeouts on the mound as the Tigers lost to Henryville.

He received two baseballs at the awards program. One was for tying the season hits record, and the other was for reaching a strikeout mark. He said the baseballs mean a lot to him, and he is pleased to see his hard work paying off.

The Tigers only won one game this spring, and Hilton believes they can improve greatly on that mark next year.

“I really think we’ll be better next year,” he said. “We’ve got a couple good players coming up from the rec league, and I hope we’ll get more people playing next year.”