Cougars sweep with no-hitter

Posted April 09, 2008 11:00 pm

Special to the Daily Herald

Craig Italiano and Branden Dewing combined for the sixth no-hitter in Kane County Cougars history on Wednesday night, a 3-0 victory in Game 2 of a double-header against the Burlington Bees before 1,559 in Geneva.

The Cougars won the opener 1-0 in 10 innings.

Italiano (1-0), making his first start at Elfstrom Stadium since he suffered a serious head injury in a game last May, retired the first 16 batters, including 7 consecutive strikeouts at one point with 1 hit batter.

Italiano had a career-high 9 strikeouts. Dewing got the final out of the sixth and worked a perfect seventh.

The Cougars' Christian Vitters had a sacrifice fly and a 2-run double.

In Game 1, Jake Smith drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 10th to bring home Jonathan Johnston.

Starter Scott Hodsdon and relievers Brad Hertzler, Chris Farley and Scott Moore (1-0) combined for the shutout. Cougars pitchers have a streak of 19½ scoreless innings.