Belleville West first-year head coach Todd Baltz’s plan of attack against the cross-town East Lancers works about as well as he could have hoped.
With the single-elimination regional starting Monday and four regular season games yet to be played, he’s keeping his pitchers on limited work load.
Seniors Matt Klosterman and Cal Kossina shared an efficient seven innings Thursday, allowing just one East hit in a 6-0 victory.
“Neither threw a lot of pitches, which is what we wanted,” Baltz said. “Matt is pitching Monday so he was limited to 40 pitches or so and Cal will have to pitch in the post-season so both were on a short leash. They just did a good job getting ahead of hitters and were really efficient.”
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West scored three runs in the first, two in the second and one in the sixth to improve to 13-17 on the season.
Klosterman also led the West offense with a two-run single and a third RBI on a fielder’s choice. Catcher Jacob Wilson and center fielder Jack Lanxon also drove in runs for the Maroons.
East, which has lost six of seven games, fell to 15-12 on the season. The Lancers begin post-season play at the No. 2 seed in the Granite City Regional Wednesday against Collinsville.
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