Craig Daily Press

Photo by John Vandelinder

Moffat County pitcher Ben Williams delivers a third strike Monday at Craig Middle School. Williams struck out eight Sailors, on his way to his fifth victory of the season.

Craig — Coming off what coach Rich Sadvar said was a “Bad News Bears performance” Monday at Summit County, the Moffat County Bulldogs legion baseball team was looking to get back on track against visiting Steamboat Springs.

Mission accomplished.

The Bulldogs cruised past their rival in the first game of a doubleheader Monday, 11-3, behind the pitching of Hayden resident Ben Williams and timely hitting by Austin Sadvar.

Steamboat jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning of Game 1 behind a walk, a single by Carson Becker, an RBI double by Brandon Clark and RBI singles by John Burrow and Ryan Hall.

But, Williams settled in and shut out the Sailors from there, giving way to the big bats of the Bulldogs.

Dylan Camilletti scored in the bottom of the first and a passed ball by the Sailors led to a Williams run in the second inning, cutting the Moffat County deficit to one.

With two outs in the same frame, Camilletti walked, setting the table for Sadvar.

Sadvar connected on a 1-2 pitch with the bases loaded, sending a line drive to the left centerfield gap emptying the bases.

The three-run double put the Bulldogs up, 5-3, and Williams took over from there.

Williams (5-1) — who pitched a perfect game during the high school regular season — cruised through the middle innings, striking out five consecutive batters in the third, fourth and fifth innings on his way to an eight-strikeout performance.

“I just started feeling it,” Williams said. “I got into a rhythm. Everything was working for me, my curveball was biting real good.”

Trailing by eight, Steamboat rallied in the top of the seventh, hitting back-to-back singles.

But, Williams struck out the final Sailor looking to end the contest.

Game 2 saw the Bulldogs (13-2 overall, 11-2 league) take a first-inning 2-0 lead on RBI singles from Halen Raymond and Williams, only to let the lead slip away in the top of the fourth.

Camilletti — who got the nod to tote the rubber in the second contest — was hit hard by the Sailors with no outs as Steamboat ( 6-21 overall, 4-13 league) took a 6-3 lead.

Hondo Anderson, John Burrow and Ryan Hogrefe accounted for the four-run outburst with no outs as the Sailors continued to threaten, loading the bases.

Sadvar called on Nathan Hill to stop the bleeding, and the Moffat County High School junior came through.

Hill induced two groundball outs and struck out Ryan Hall looking to end the inning.

Runs became contagious in the fourth, as the Bulldogs answered the Sailor rally with one of their own.

Moffat County regained the lead — 8-6 — on two bases loaded walks and two Steamboat fielding errors.

Hill shut down the Sailors from there and the Bulldogs piled on two more runs in the top of the sixth, taking a 10-6 lead.

The final score was not available at press time.

For complete results, see the Saturday Morning Press.