WIAA Semifinals: Janesville Craig Advances To Title Game

June 17, 2015

By Spencer Flaten
Staff Writer

APPLETON, WI – The Janesville Craig Cougars advanced to the Division 1 state championship game with a 4-0 victory over Oconomowoc in the state semifinals on Tuesday night. The Cougars rode a stellar performance from junior Chase Nyborg on the mound to move on to the title game.

Both Nyborg and Oconomowoc starting pitcher Zach Clayton controlled the game early on. The first hit of the game for the Raccoons didn’t come until the top of the 3^rd inning, and the Cougars only had one hit during the first four innings.

The contest was scoreless until the 4^th inning, when a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt allowed Janesville Craig to plate a run and take a 1-0 lead.

The Cougars added three insurance runs in the 5^th with a mini-rally. Evan Spry drove in a run with a single to make it 2-0, and JT Smithback shot a hard hit ball back up the middle for a 2 RBI single and a 4-0 lead for his team. Those were only the 2^nd and 3^rd hits of the game for Craig, but they made the most of them.

Down 4-0 in the top of the 7^th, the Raccoons got two men on base but were unable to bring them around. Nyborg preserved the shutout by getting Ryan Wenzel to pop out to end the game.

Nyborg threw a complete game for the Cougars and surrendered just 5 hits and struck out 7. Clayton pitched 6 innings for Oconomowoc and allowed 3 earned runs despite only giving up 3 hits and notching 4 strikeouts.

Smithback and Spry both finished the game 1-for-3 for Craig. Wenzel led Oconomowoc with a 2-for-3 performance with a double.

Janesville Craig will face Kimberly in the Division 1 state championship game on Thursday at 6 PM at Fox Cities Stadium. It will be the final game of the spring season. Kimberly lost the title game to Sun Prairie last season, while Janesville Craig has not played in the championship game since 2001.

WIAA Semifinals: Janesville Craig Advances To Title Game

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