Baseball Recap: Hamilton County's Luck Changes for the Better on Thursday

Hamilton County came into Thursday's contest having lost seven straight, but that streak is now in the rearview. They walked away with a 5-2 victory over the Zeigler-Royalton Tornadoes on Thursday. This was payback for the Foxes, who suffered an 8-7 defeat the last time these two teams met.

Colby Karcher

Batters Struck Out

05/14/26 vs Zeigler-Royalton	7
05/01/26 vs Fairfield	2
04/20/26 @ Johnston City	4
04/13/26 @ Crab Orchard	6
04/08/26 @ Galatia/Thompsonville	4
+ 3 more games

Colby Karcher made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out seven batters over five innings while giving up just two earned runs off six hits. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in April of 2025. He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI.

In other batting news, Ethan Kessler was excellent, going a perfect 1-for-1 with three RBI and one double. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high.

Hamilton County's record now sits at 6-16-1. As for Zeigler-Royalton, they dropped their record down to 9-17 with the loss, which was their fifth straight on the road.

Coincidentally, Hamilton County and Zeigler-Royalton will both be playing Carmi-White County the next time they take the field. The Foxes will head out to face the Bulldogs at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, while the Tornadoes will host them at 4:30 p.m. on the 25th.