Baseball Game Preview: Belleville West Maroons vs. Columbia Eagles

The Belleville West Maroons will face off against the Columbia Eagles at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.

Belleville West and Belleville East faced off in a cross-town battle on Tuesday. The Maroons came out on top against the Lancers by a score of 11-6.

Braydon Skaer looked comfortable as he struck out nine batters over four innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs off five hits. Those nine strikeouts gave him a new career-high.

Parker Wells

Hits (Career)

05/19/26 vs Belleville East	3
04/29/26 vs Granite City	2
05/13/26 @ Glenwood	1
04/30/26 @ East St. Louis	1
04/21/26 @ Edwardsville	1

On the hitting side, Parker Wells and Jack Harris did most of the damage at the plate: Wells went 3-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI, while Harris went 2-for-3 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI. Those three hits gave Wells a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Adam Bilzing, who went 3-for-4 with two runs.

Belleville West was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .500. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Belleville East only posted a batting average of .333.

Meanwhile, Columbia never let their opponents score on Saturday. They were the clear victors by a 15-0 margin over Valmeyer. The win continues a trend for the Eagles in their matchups with the Pirates: they've now won six in a row.

Columbia now has a winning record of 15-14. As for Belleville West, their victory bumped their record up to 18-10-1.

Belleville West beat Columbia 11-6 in their previous meeting back in March of 2025. Will the Maroons repeat their success, or do the Eagles have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.