Belleville West junior strikes out 11 as Maroons roll past Belleville East

Belleville West junior right-hander Luke Vallandingham wasn’t totally happy with his pitching performance Tuesday, but he should have been.

Vallandingham held Belleville East to five hits and struck out 11 in a 5-1 Southwestern Conference baseball victory that pushed the Maroons’ season record to 5-2.

“I was definitely getting tired there toward the end,” said Vallandingham, now 3-0 with a 0.38 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings. “It was a struggle. I didn’t have my best stuff today and I fell behind in a lot of counts, but I found a way to get them out. That’s all the matters.”

The win was a bit sweeter since it came against the city rival Lancers (6-2 overall, 0-1 in the SWC).

“There’s definitely another kind of adrenaline when you play them,” Vallandingham said. “It’s nice to beat a cross-town rival.”

Key performers

Vallandingham was up over 100 pitches before taking the mound for the seventh inning, but struck out two of the final three hitters he faced.

“This is his third outing, so he’s been building up to that,” West coach Todd Baltz said. “He got a little bit stronger at the end. If you can hold them to one run without your best stuff, you’re doing something right — so kudos to him.”

West set the tone with a two-run first inning as the Maroons applied pressure after East starter Cody Freppon hit Jack Lanxon with a pitch to lead off the game. Cal Kossina reached on a throwing error and Nick Oglesby came through with a two-run single to center.

Oglesby is hitting .318 with a team-leading eight RBIs.

“He’s got that potential,” Baltz said. “He can drive the ball the opposite way and doesn’t give too many at-bats away. He’s down in the RBI spot so we expect that out of him.”

Belleville East was playing without star catcher and Missouri State recruit Drew Millas, who suffered an ankle injury Monday against Wesclin.

“I think it’s going to be quick,” said East coach Ryan Wiggs, whose team was also missing starter Austin Galloway because of an illness. “We’re hopeful for Thursday that (Millas) is back, if not Friday or Saturday. We don’t use that as an excuse, it’s the next man up mentality. That’s what we’ve got to have.”

What the Lancers didn’t have Tuesday was enough offense or defense. Errors figured prominently in four of the five Maroons’ runs.

West took a 3-0 lead in the second on an RBI single by Matt Sisk and Oglesby scored on an error in the third after ripping his fourth double of the season.

“We’ve got to shore up the defense a little bit,” Wiggs said. “Our defense is something we need to work on, definitely.”

Key sequence

East lost one of its top hitters, Patrick Gaul in the first inning. Gaul reached on a leadoff single and was thrown out at the plate, then ejected by the home plate umpire for failing to slide in a collision with West catcher Cal Kossina. Wiggs argued the call, to no avail.

The Lindenwood-Belleville recruit is hitting .536 with six RBIs and with Millas (.455, eight RBIs) already out of the lineup, the Lancers’ offense felt their absence.

Belleville East got its lone run in the second when Evan Lawrence doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Alex Phillips. The Lancers stranded eight runners against Vallandingham, who credited Kossina for helping push him through the game.

“As the game went on I think my curveball got a little better, I relied on that in the later innings,” Vallandingham said. “I’d like to give a shoutout to Cal Kossina, he played a great game behind the plate. We’re really on the same page; he knows what pitch I want to throw in every count and it really helps you as a pitcher not having to shake off every time.”

Wiggs used to get up for West games when he played for East and saw that same kind of intensity from his players Tuesday.

“I saw a little extra energy,” he said. “I love the energy we had today.”

O’Fallon 5, Alton 0

O’Fallon senior left-hander and Southern Illinois University Carbondale recruit Bradley Harrison fired a one-hitter and struck out 11, shutting down the Alton Redbirds in a Southwestern Conference win. Joe Guithues, Jordan Richardson and Bradley Snyder drove in runs for O’Fallon (8-1).

Waterloo 9, Wheaton Warrenville South 0

Jordan McFarland and Cole Milam homered and Tyler McAlister struck out seven in six inning as the Waterloo Bulldogs moved to 3-0 with a victory. McFarland, an Arkansas recruit, was 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs.

This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 8:22 PM with the headline "Belleville West junior strikes out 11 as Maroons roll past Belleville East."