The best pitchers find a way to be effective even when working with a reduced arsenal.

Such was the case with Butler’s Madden Clement Monday afternoon.

The junior worked five innings against Allderdice, allowing one run on three hits while striking out 10 and walking two. The effort sparked Butler to a 7-1 victory in the Section 1-6A opener for both teams at Pullman Park.

“I knew by the time I reached the bottom of their order that I didn’t have my best off-speed stuff,” Clement said. “I relied on my fastball because they were having trouble catching up to it.”

A walk in each of the first two innings didn’t hurt Clement and he kept the Dragons off the scoreboard until the top of the fifth when Evan Carter’s one-out double was followed by Bryan McCann’s RBI-single.

“Madden has the ability to throw all of his pitches for strikes, but today he kept pumping his fastball in there,” Butler coach Josh Forbes said. “He was able to pitch well in a game that is not his typical kind of game. It was awesome.”

By the time Allderdice scored, Butler had taken command of the game, due in large part to miscues from the Dragons’ defense and free passes from starting pitcher Robert Gilbert.

The Golden Tornado plated four runs in the third frame to break a scoreless tie. Ethan Trettel began the onslaught with a base hit. Conner McTighe and Lance Slater followed with walks.

Clement singled home two runs and another came home on an error. Colin Patterson’s single capped the inning’s scoring.

Gilbert endured another rough inning in the fourth as a pair of walks and two errors led to two more runs to make it 6-0.

Butler (3-0, 1-0) collected just four hits in the game, all singles.

“Our timing is off,” said Forbes. “We’re not doing a good job of getting the most out of our at-bats and are swinging at pitcher’s pitches.

“Obviously, it’s early in the season and it’s just a question of getting more reps.”

Colin Casteel relieved Clement in the sixth and set the Dragons (0-2, 0-1) down in order via strikeouts. He surrendered back-to-back singles to Tommy Pasternoster and Ryan Brooks in the seventh, but did not allow a run with the help of a game-ending 4-6-3 double play.

Butler scored the game’s final run, an unearned tally, off of Allderdice reliever Landon Blank in the bottom of the sixth.

The Golden Tornado may be working out some kinks, but they’re doing so while winning games.

As good as he looked Monday, Clement, who was draining treys for the boys basketball team just over a month ago, knows better days are ahead.

“A couple more weeks and I will be fully in baseball mode,” he said.

Butler and Allderdice will complete their home-and-home series with each other Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

Allderdice 000 010 0 — 1 5 5

Butler 004 201 x — 7 4 2

W: Madden Clement 5 IP (10K, 2BB). L: Robert Gilbert 5 IP (3K, 5BB).

Allderdice (0-2, 0-1): Evan Carter 2B R, Bryan McCann 2-1B RBI

Butler (3-0, 1-0): Madden Clement 1B 2RBI, Colin Patterson 1B RBI, Ethan Trettel 1B R

Tuesday: Butler at Allderdice