CROTHERSVILLE — Lucas Hilton has been playing baseball for as long as he can remember.

It was always his favorite sport growing up in Crothersville, and when he began his junior year with the Tigers, he knew he wanted to play at the next level. He took a big step toward that goal last week when he signed to play at Clark State, a two-year college that is located north of Dayton, Ohio.

Hilton said he chose Clark State for several reasons.

“I really liked the coaches, and it was not too far away,” he said. “I like it because it is smaller,”

“I played here until I was nine, and then I went to my first travel ball team,” he said. He played travel ball with teams from Scottsburg, Seymour, and Columbus until he was 15.

He has pitched and played shortstop with the Tigers, and said he hopes to pitch and play the infield at Clark State.

He holds school records for stolen bases and hits, and he has gotten off to a good start on the mound as he had 10 strike outs in the Tigers’ season opener against Waldron and pitched 3.1 innings against Cannelton Saturday and did not allow any hits and had eight strike outs.

Hilton said he enjoys being on the mound. “I like to try to make the ball move and throwing off the opponents. I’m not all about speed but I like to change it up a little bit.”

He said he is confident he can hit the catchers’ glove with most of his pitches.

“My knuckle-curve is what I usually throw, and I’ll go with a fastball and a regular knuckle ball. It is very important to get ahead in the count. I like being in control. The objective of a pitcher should be putting the ball in play, but I don’t like to put the ball in play, I’m trying to strike them out.

“I want to be the defender. It helps me if I get up in the count because then I can get a little more creative and hit the point I want to hit.”

He said he tries to throw more outside when he is facing the top batters in the opposing line-up, and when he gets toward the bottom of the line-up he throws more knuckleballs.

Eric Hilton, Lucas’s father, and coach said, “He’s played baseball from five years all the way up so he has always been around baseball. One thing he has always loved to do is play baseball. It is exciting to see him actually grow in the sport, and to be able to take it to the next level.”

Eric said his son throws a fastball, circle change, knuckle and knuckle curve and he is working on a sweeper.

“He is very good at hitting the outside corner,” Eric said. “If he faces a power hitter he makes sure he throws inside to make them have to turn on it. That is one of the things he has learned over the years.”

He said Clark State has a good heating and cooling program that Lucas can major in.

“He will get his certification in that, and he will be able to play baseball, so he is looking forward to that. That was one of the callings on Clark State. I was very impressed where they broke down their style of pitching and what they can do to get him faster and more break on the ball.”

The Clark State coaches contacted the Hiltons on a zoom call on New Year’s Day and asked him if he would like to play baseball there.

The Hiltons visited the college, and Lucas knew he wanted to become a member of the Eagles baseball team. The pitching coach at Clark State is Rick White, a 14-year veteran of major league baseball.

Hilton said he tries to be a team leader and gives advice to the younger, inexperienced players.

“I enjoy just being out there,” he said. “I like the calmness when I’m pitching. I like to control the crowd, kind of.”

He said he wanted to express his gratitude to assistant coaches Mark Malone and Rita Fletcher for their work with the baseball program.

Coach Hilton spoke on some expectations for Lucas this spring.

“I hope he has some good at bats and locates the ball well,” Hilton said. “I always say hopefully he can ‘find it and drive it,’ and the main thing is he has to have fun.”

“It’s nice to see that Crothersville can help develop kids to go to the next level and we’ve seen it the last five or six years with the girls’ program, and now see a boy break through and go to the next level is pretty exciting for Crothersville athletics.”

The combined no-hitter on Saturday against Cannelton was the seventh in school history and the first since May, 7th of 2014 in a game with Medora.

Here are the list of seven no-hitters in school history.

May 23, 1977 vs. Indian Creek

Apr 10, 1978 vs. New Washington

Apr 18, 1983 vs. Medora

Apr 24, 1998 vs. Brownstown Central

May 13, 2013 vs. Rock Creek

May 7, 2014 vs. Medora

Apr 13 2024 vs. Cannelton