Rusty Bourg wants his pitchers to be able to perform at a high level later in the season - not just through the first two games.
That's why the Calvary Lutheran baseball coach didn't deviate from his game plan of limiting Wyatt Archer to a specific pitch count.
Archer threw four innings of no-hit ball and Beau Monson completed the no-hitter for the Lions as Calvary rolled to a 10-0 victory against Van-Far in five innings Monday.
"We want to have everybody strong toward the end of April," Bourg said. "I was keeping him to around 50 pitches. He may have been a hair over that, but I was trying to get four innings out of him and he got that job done."
Archer wasn't aware of his no-hit bid, and he wasn't too concerned about it after the game.
"I don't really pay attention to much when I'm on the mound," Archer said. "It's just me, coach and the catcher."
The senior right-hander struck out four and walked five in his first outing this season. It was also Archer's first time throwing from a mound since September.
"I didn't feel like I had my location working very much today," Archer said. "It was still there, but it wasn't as keen as it was last year. We've got to work towards that, but for a first game I thought it was pretty decent."
Monson, who picked up the win in Calvary's season opener Friday, struck out three and pitched around an error in the top of the fifth to keep Van-Far (0-1) off the scoreboard.
The Indians committed five errors and combined to walk seven batters, while the Lions tallied five hits to improve to 2-0 on the year.
"The kids did what they had to do to win," Bourg said. "It was a little bit of a sloppy game. It was just one of those cold, typical high school winter-type games, but we got the job done."
Calvary took a 7-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh and Hance Sommerer delivered the knock-out punch with a two-run double to enforce the mercy rule with no outs.
The junior third baseman said he wasn't necessarily trying to end the game early.
"I was just looking for a fastball I could do something with," Sommerer said. "I was just trying to put it in play and see what happened."
The Lions reached base on back-to-back errors to lead off the fifth and then drew consecutive walks to plate one run and keep the bases loaded for Sommerer.
It was similar to the first inning when Calvary scored five runs on two hits, while taking advantage of three errors and three walks to give the Lions an early lead. Gavin Nutt and Tristan Clementich capped off the inning with back-to-back RBI singles to put Calvary up 5-0 and the Lions didn't look back from there.
"We put the ball in play," Bourg said. "When you do that, good things happen."
Calvary didn't let up after the first inning.
Nutt and Cole Duenckel both drew walks and Monson hit a two-run single with the infield drawn in to give the Lions a 7-0 lead with one out in the bottom of the third.
"I think we're coming along pretty good," Sommerer said. "We're doing it with the bats and the defense is holding up pretty good."
Van-Far starting pitcher Lucas Robinson allowed seven runs (four earned) on four hits and six walks. Wyatt McDowell gave up three runs (one earned) on one hit and three walks.
The Indians had seven baserunners on the day, but stranded all of them.
"You work through the free runners," Bourg said. "That's what we have to do."
Calvary will play at 5 p.m. today at Tolton.
The Lions, who were 6-8 last season, hope to continue their winning ways.
"I think every once in a while, every team has their moments of taking a step back," Archer said. "But as far as moving forward, I think we'll continue to do that and continue to grow as a team."