CROTHERSVILLE — The Tigers picked up their first win of the 2023-24 season on Saturday against Cannelton. Crothersville no-hit the Bulldogs and racked up 13 runs in five innings to improve to 1-1.

The Tigers won the contest 13-3, behind Lucas Hilton and Beau Napier on the mound and three RBI’s from Corey Kelshaw at the plate.

The game started out slow, but the Tigers put together a six-run third inning and 11 runs in the final three innings to send Cannelton home after five innings of play.

Head Coach Eric Hilton spoke on the winning effort from the Tigers on Saturday.

“It was a great team win, great to get the bats going a bit,” Coach Hilton said. “We ended up with 9 hits as a team. Other than a few mistakes, it was a great overall team win for us.”

Lucas and Napier also spoke on the win over the Bulldogs.

“Honestly, I don’t think we played that well,” Hilton said. “But our pitching was better, it could still get to a better point. We need to be able to control the counts better on the mound. Our hitting definitely improved from our last game.”

Napier mentioned that the team had a rough warmup before the game.

“It was a rough warmup for us,” Napier said. “We came in and ended up playing better than I expected after the rough start. We told ourselves when things get rough, that we have to stick together and work through it,” Napier added.

The three runs came from 8 combined walks and a couple of errors. But the Tigers didn’t allow a hit in the win.

Hilton and Kelshaw led the team in hits with two. Napier, Gavin Wiesman, Blake Robinson, Nolan Nickell and Gage Howard all recorded at least one hit in the victory.

Crothersville was active on the basepaths, recording 9 stolen bases. Hilton started the game, pitching 3.1 innings, allowing three runs, two of them earned. He allowed six walks and struck out eight batters and picked up the win.

The senior spoke about his performance on the mound.

“I felt a little boggled on the mound, had some issues hitting the strike zone consistently,” Hilton said. “Some of my pitches just didn’t fall today, but that’s the game of baseball.”

Napier pitched 1.2 innings, allowing no runs, two walks, and striking out four batters in the process. He spoke about what he’s liking from the team in the first few weeks of the season.

“Compared to last year, we didn’t have that many people,” Napier said. “This year we have a bigger roster, with more experienced players.”

Crothersville will now prepare for a matchup with South Central on the road on Monday at 5:30 p.m.

They will then travel to the Christian Academy of Indiana on Tuesday for a matchup with the Warriors at 6 p.m.

Cannelton (0-5) at Crothersville (1-1)

Cannelton; 3

Crothersville; 13

Hits: Crothersville — Kelshaw, Hilton (2); Napier, Robinson, Nickell, Howard, Wiesman. 2B: Crothersville — Wiesman, Kelshaw, Napier. 3B: Crothersville — Hilton. RBI: Crothersville — Kelshaw (3); Napier, Hilton, Nickell (2); Robinson.

WP: Lucas Hilton, Crothersville.