Craig Italiano no-no

The last post that had a little something to do on Craig Italiano, the Kane County Cougar pitcher who was hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of Carlos Triunfel and subsequently missed the remainder of the '07 season, was "It's not an issue!"

This post proves that it wasn't an issue. Italiano tossed the first six innings of a seven-inning no-hitter against Burlington in the second game of a doubleheader yesterday. The only base runner of game two for the Bees got on when he was hit by a pitch with one-out in the sixth.

From the story:

Italiano never doubted he'd be able to get back up on the proverbial horse and return to form.

"I just worked hard toward it and planned like it was going to come," he said. "The hardest part was not being able to do anything for three months while the fracture healed, everything else was pretty easy."

The guy who had the tough part was Branden Dewing, who had to close out the gem.

Italiano was taken out of the game due to pitch count. Dewing then took the reins and closed out the no-no.

"My heart was beating a little faster than normal," the reliever laughed. "There was a situation where he had to come out and someone had to go in. I was glad it was me."

"Craig's one of the most pleasurable guys to be around, I love him to death," he added. "He deserves this more than anybody after all the hardships he's been through in the last year. It was a pleasure to be a part of it with him. This game is going to live with me probably forever -- it's definitely one of the best moments of my career so far."

Kane County is now 7-0 on the season.