HINCKLEY – Somonauk starter Broc Slais was perfect through four innings and ended up retiring the side in six of seven innings against Hinckley BIg Rock on Wednesday, with the Bobcats getting enough timely hits for a 5-1 win over the Royals.

“He just sat there on his fastball,” Somonauk coach Troy Felton said. “His game plan at the beginning was wait until they can stop fouling it off, then I’ll switch it up. He’s got an overpowering fastball, so he leans heavily on it.”

The Bobcats (15-5 overall, 11-3 Little 10) scored four of their runs with two outs. Hinckley-Big Rock starter Judson Scott hit two batters in the first inning and allowed two hits – including a two-out, two-run single to Jaylen Dion to make the score 3-0.

Scott did strike out the side and finished with 11 strikeouts in six innings for the Royals (11-5, 7-3). The two other runs he gave up were unearned.

Hinckley-Big Rock coach Matt Olsen said those are the sort of mistakes that he would have hoped would have been fixed in practices by now, but the Royals really haven’t been able to practice outside much at all this season because of the weather.

“It’s frustrating, but it’s part of the game,” Olsen said. “We have to make plays. You have to be clean defensively, we preach that all the time. We work it and rep it, but unfortunately it is what it is. When you’re stuck in the gyms, it’s hard.”

Slais went the distance for the Bobcats, allowing three hits and one earned run – all in the fifth inning. He walked no one.

Slais said he was just using his fastball until the Royals caught up to it. All the H-BR hits went to right, including an RBI single by Saje Beane which scored Ben Jourdan.

“They started to time it, take it to right field, so I threw some spinners in there,” Slais said. “They couldn’t adjust to it.”

Slais finished with 13 strikeouts in the win, and Felton said his fastball was on point.

“When you put Broc Slais on the mound you know he’s going to come out and throw a heck of a game,” Felton said. “He doesn’t give up a lot of hits, typically. We put a tough defense behind him, and we know even if he does give up a hit we’re going to do something with it.”

The Bobcats opened a 4-0 lead in the second inning. After Scott started the inning with two strikeouts, a dropped fly by Mason Albright in right field put Carson Bahrey on second base, then Parker Wasson ripped a double into the left-center gap.

The lead grew to 5-0 when Dion capped his 3 for 3 day with his third RBI, a single that scored Brendan Roberts after an error by shortstop Ben Hintzsche gave the Bobcats and extra out.

Felton said two-out hitting recently has been a focal point for the Bobcats.

“You can’t get down to two outs and pack it up,” Felton said. “You still have to be able to do something. We’ve really concentrated on that in practice and having an approach at the plate.”

The Royals scored their run with two outs in the fifth, but Slais got a strikeout to end the threat with two on.

“It felt pretty nice, it was pretty big,” Slais said. “They could have made a comeback, but we held them.”

Dion had the only multihit game for either team and was the only player for the Bobcats not to strike out – Beane was the only Royal not to strike out.

“You have to tip your cap to Broc, he pitched outstanding,” Olsen said. “We put some good at-bats together and manufactured that one run late there.”