Baseball Game Preview: Belleville East Lancers vs. Centralia Orphans

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Previous 6 Games

04/15/24 - Away	5-2 W
04/17/23 - Home	3-0 W
04/18/22 - Away	13-9 W
04/22/19 - Home	13-1 W
04/24/17 - Home	14-2 W
04/25/16 - Away	13-1 W

Belleville East has gone a perfect 6-0 against Centralia recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Monday. The Lancers will be playing in front of their home fans against the Orphans at 4:30 p.m. Belleville East is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 9.7 runs per game this season.

Friday just wasn't the day for Belleville East's offense. They fell just short of Columbia by a score of 2-0 on Friday. Having soared to a lofty 15 runs in the game before, the Lancers' shutout was a dramatic turnaround.

Belleville East got a good showing from Logan Faust, who pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. That's the fewest hits Faust has allowed since back in May of 2024.

Meanwhile, after a string of three wins, Centralia's good fortune finally ran out on Friday. They fell just short of Murphysboro by a score of 7-6.

Xavier Koch made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 2-for-3 with four RBI and one run. Another player making a difference was Will Stanton, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with one stolen base and one run.

Centralia's loss dropped their record down to 8-7. As for Belleville East, their defeat dropped their record down to 14-5.

Belleville East was able to grind out a solid victory over Centralia when the teams last played back in April of 2024, winning 5-2. Will the Lancers repeat their success, or do the Orphans have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.