LEWISTON – While the rest of his Lewiston High School baseball teammates gathered sports drinks or car keys and made their way up the hilly foot path overlooking Franklin Pasture, Eddie West tossed the top half of his uniform over a glove and mitt in the dugout and went back to work.

“Coach Cifelli, time?” West called out before making the first strides of a training run around the surprisingly dry and green ballpark.

Blue Devils boss Todd Cifelli reached into a duffel bag, pulled out a stopwatch and clicked the start button in the upper right-hand corner. It was probably the least he could do for a senior mainstay, one ascending above and beyond his job description after playing the role of both Jason Varitek and Jonathan Papelbon in the space of one Monday matinee.

West caught five-plus shutout innings from Josh Leino before swapping leather and retiring the final six Leavitt hitters himself – five by strikeout, one with self-defense on a scorching line drive – to close out Lewiston’s 4-0 victory in a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference mutual season-opener.

There’s a good chance West would have started this game on the bump under normal circumstances. Normal, meaning if Lewiston catchers Keenan White and Mekae Hyde weren’t languishing in the dugout and sporting a sling and crutches, respectively.

The Blue Devils’ pitching depth and West’s versatility provide the best-case Plan ‘C’ after such a devastating double whammy.

“We’re going to try to use Eddie out of the ‘pen this week,” Cifelli said. “We’ve got two (catchers) we’re going to develop and work with, and then hopefully Eddie will be back in the rotation next week.”

Of course, Lewiston couldn’t go wrong with Leino as its vacation-week ace. Leino allowed only three singles and one walk while fanning five headed into the top of the sixth. Then he walked Matt Paladino and Evan Barker as he neared the 100-pitch threshold, necessitating West and Jake Brown as the new battery.

West issued one walk on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases, but he whiffed Nick Letourneau, Doug Nash and Zach Caldwell to escape the quagmire. It was Paladino’s third time stranded in scoring position, and he and Barker brought the Hornets’ grand total in that category to six.

“Hitting, hitting, hitting. We had guys on base and we had the right guys up several times,” said Leavitt coach Dave Morin. “We just never got that key hit at the right time. We had three good chances to score runs.”

As one of the few teams north of Cumberland or York county to get more than token time outdoors, Lewiston wielded no shortage of offense in its tune-ups against Windham, Thornton and Mt. Blue.

The hit parade persisted on Patriots’ Day. Every player in the starting lineup reached base at least once, with seven different Blue Devils contributing a base hit. Jon Paradis and Leino both delivered an RBI single in the first inning. Mike Fontaine’s knock made it 3-0 in the second.

Good contact and a tricky wind were the Blue Devils’ friend in the fourth. Chris Jacques’ leadoff triple over the right fielder’s head set the table for Jeff Keene’s swirling fly that dropped into left with two out.

“We were building momentum in the scrimmages, and now we’re trying to carry that momentum into the other games,” said Leino. “We’re looking to hopefully win every game this week.”

Edward Little (Wednesday) and Cony (Friday) are potential statements for a program enjoying a modest streak of playoff appearances and hoping to join Bangor, Oxford Hills and Brewer among KVAC elites.

Cifelli’s lineup card is a mix of playoff-tested veterans and freshmen and sophomores who tasted success last year in Senior Little League, American Legion and Frozen Ropes fall ball. Watching his leaders stay late to get in shape for their new roles – West by running, Brown with some extra catching in the bullpen – was a rewarding feeling.

“When you’re talking about a kid who has played in multiple state championship hockey games,” Cifelli said of Brown, “you know he’s going to work hard.”