Throughout the early part of his career at Calvary Lutheran, Beau Monson has made a habit of coming out of the bullpen.
But the junior is also proving he can get the job done as a starter.
Monson allowed two hits and struck out 18 in a complete-game shutout as the Lions claimed a 6-0 win against St. Elizabeth on Tuesday afternoon.
"It felt great," Monson said. "We were playing some good baseball all around. I just wanted to go out there and throw strikes and win for our team.
"St. Elizabeth has always been kind of a tough matchup for us, so I just wanted to go out there and do the best I could."
Monson struck out the first eight batters he faced and didn't allow a walk in just his third career start.
"Most of the time if we have a lead, I'll bring him in in the sixth or seventh inning," Calvary coach Rusty Bourg said. "That's always been his role in the past, but I'm starting to get him some more starts this year."
Monson said he is comfortable with both roles, and has even learned a thing or two from coming out of the pen.
"As a reliever you've just got to come in and you can't really think about much," he said. "You've just got to do your job and throw 100 percent every time you go out there."
The right-hander didn't issue a hit until the top of the fourth, when Brandon Holtmeyer led off the frame with a single down the right-field line. Logan Schanzmeyer had the only other hit for the Hornets, which came with no outs in the fifth.
Only three other batters put the ball in play against Monson, who threw 97 pitches - 70 for strikes.
"I thought in the first part of the game we gave him way too many pitches, swinging at pitches out of the zone," St. Elizabeth coach Kyle Hoecker said. "He had a little three-quarter angle on him and made it a little difficult to pick up. I tip my hat to him. He pitched really well the whole game."
St. Elizabeth starting pitcher Ethan Oligschlaeger also had a no-hit bid going until the bottom of the fourth, when Caleb Propst led off the inning with a single.
That's when the Lions offense started to come alive.
"I was just trying to make solid contact," said Propst, who was 2-for-3 with two RBI. "We hadn't really had any solid contact up to that point. I'd seen him once already, so I knew what he was going to bring me. I was just waiting for my pitch and I jumped on it."
Wyatt Archer, Bradley MacLaughlin, Gavin Nutt and Tristan Clementich all had hits for Calvary as part of a three-run bottom of the fourth and the Lions didn't look back from there.
"I was a little worried at first that our offense wasn't going to make any adjustments at the plate," Bourg said. "We were way ahead of the ball and way out front. We finally made some adjustments and started putting the ball in play."
Propst and Archer tallied back-to-back RBI hits in the fifth and Propst added a sacrifice fly in the sixth to give Calvary a 6-0 cushion.
Monson needed 13 pitches to put the Hornets away in the seventh.
"Beau did one heck of a job," Bourg said. "This was his best outing by far. He had command of all his pitches."
Oligschlaeger received the loss after allowing five runs on nine hits, while striking out eight and walking three in 42/3 innings.
Holtmeyer pitched the final 11/3 innings, allowing no earned runs on one hit for the Hornets, who fell to 0-10 on the season.
"I felt like (Oligschlaeger) gave us a good chance to win," Hoecker said. "Later in the game, they hit the ball around a little bit and found some of our weak spots in the field. He's a good pitcher for us, he's been doing it all year long."
Archer and MacLaughlin both had two hits and one RBI to help the Lions, who have already exceed their win total from last year. Calvary is now 7-3 on the year and will travel Monday to Newburg.