Craig's Fredricks tosses no-hitter
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JANESVILLE — This time, Brett Fredricks didn’t have to share the no-hitter, and he can thank Janesville Craig’s offense for that.
Fredricks, a senior right-hander, no-hit Beloit Memorial in a WIAA Division 1 regional baseball final here Friday at Riverside Park, as the top-seeded Cougars dispatched the fourth-seeded Purple Knights, 10-0, in a five-inning game that ended with 10-run rule.
Craig High will host No. 2-seeded Oconomowoc in a sectional semifinal at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Riverside Park. Madison Memorial plays Madison West in the sectional opener at 11 a.m., and the winners battle for a state berth at 5 p.m.
Fredricks combined with Mike Davis to no-hit Beloit early this season, and at one point Friday it appeared that Fredricks would have to potentially share a no-hitter again.
With the Cougars in the midst of sending 11 hitters to the plate in the fifth, Craig coach Victor Herbst said after the game that he had decided to remove Fredricks once the lead reached 5-0 to keep him fresh for the sectionals.
But Craig (19-5) kept right on scoring, finally walking twice with the score 8-0 and the bases loaded to end the game and finalize Fredricks’ abbreviated no-hitter.
“Congratulations to Brett, because getting a no-no was big,” Herbst said.
Fredricks (6-1) walked four and struck out four in his five innings and received a nice sliding catch from right fielder Keith Wright after Fredricks had walked the bases loaded with two outs in the top of the third.
“My defense was just great,” Fredricks said. “I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Fredricks complements his fastball with a curve, a changeup and a splitter that he throws sparingly. While he mixed his pitches on Friday, Fredricks threw mostly fastballs and curve balls. It was outstanding command of the curve that made him so tough to hit.
“His biggest thing, like any other high school pitcher, if you can throw any of your off-speed stuff around the plate, it makes you very effective,” Herbst said.
Having thrown onjly five innings on Friday, Fredricks will be rested and available for the sectional semifinal. Since the winner plays a second game that, the Cougars might need all the arms they have.
While Fredricks dominated the Knights (8-20) on Friday, the Cougars drew six walks against Beloit starter Colin Grove. The big blow came in the third, when Dylan Grall came up in a scoreless game with two on and two outs and ripped a 1-2 fastball over the fence in left-center for a home run and 3-0 lead.
“We realized before that at-bat that he was throwing mostly fastballs, so we were sitting on fastball most of the game,” Grall said. “He gave me a pitch that I could drive, so I took it.”
CRAIG 10, BELOIT 0 (5)
Beloit (ab-r-h-bi)—Edwards, 2b, 2-0-0-0; Hammes, lf, 1-0-0-0; Woodman, ss, 0-0-0-0; Reed, dh, 2-0-0-0; Kunkle, c, 0-0-0-0; Little, 3b, 2-0-0-0; Roegner, 1b, 2-0-0-0; Grove, p-rf, 2-0-0-0; Larson, cf, 2-0-0-0; Mueller, rf-p, 2-0-0-0. Totals: 15-0-0-0.
Janesville Craig (ab-r-h-bi)—Bayreuther, ss, 4-0-2-1; Fredricks, p, 2-0-1-0; Graves, pr, 0-2-0-0; DeCremer, cf, 3-0-0-1; Whalen, 3b, 1-2-1-0; Grall, 1b, 2-2-1-3; Geller, 2b, 2-1-1-1; Meyer, c, 2-0-0-1; Weber, pr, 0-1-0-0; Olin, lf, 2-1-0-0; Henning, dh, 3-1-2-2; Wright, rf, 0-0-0-0. Totals: 21-10-8-9.
Beloit 000 00—0
Craig 003 07—10
E—Beloit 3, Craig 0. LOB—Beloit 4, Craig 7. SB—Edwards, DeCremer. 2B—Whalen. HR—Grall.
IP H R ER BB SO
Beloit Memorial
Grove (L) 4 1/3 7 10 8 6 4
Mueller 0 1 0 0 2 0
Janesville Craig
Fredricks 5 0 0 0 4 4
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