BUTLER TWP — Butler hit the ball hard.

North Hills hit the ball hard, too. But the Indians’ hits found green grass.

Lots of green grass.

The North Hills softball team had 14 hits and scored at least one run in every inning as the Indians downed Butler, 14-0, Wednesday afternoon in five innings.

“We hit it, but we hit it right at somebody,” lamented first-year Butler softball coach Tina O’Donnell.

Butler (1-3, 1-2) managed just one hit off of North Hills pitcher Anna McNickle, a fourth-inning sharp single by Noel Pfabe.

Meanwhile, the Indians tormented two Butler pitchers with a relentless attack.

Nine North Hills players had at least one hit, punctuated by 3-for-3 days at the plate by both Maddie Posterivo and Mekenzie Saban.

Saban had a single, double and an opposite field, two-run home run in the third inning that gave North Hills a 10-0 lead.

North Hills coach Libby Gasior lauded Saban’s work ethic.

“The thing about Kenz is she is so much fun to watch,” Gasior said. “If you knew how many at-bats that kid puts into anything. That (home run) was the result of 100 practice swings, maybe more. It’s so much fun to coach her.”

While North Hills was piling up the hits at the plate, McNickle was piling up the outs in the circle.

The sophomore has a deceptive delivery in which she almost comes to a complete stop before delivering the pitch.

The deception makes her fastball sneak up on a batter.

“She doesn’t throw very hard,” O’Donnell said. “It was just hard to read her release.”

Still, Butler hitters peppered a few pitches in the air to the outfield or hard on the ground to the North Hills’ infielders.

The Indians made every play.

“I’m very happy with our defense,” Gasior said. “We haven’t had a set lineup all year and we’ve moved some kids around. Our starting catcher was playing in center today.”

A bright spot for Butler was Pfabe, who had the only Golden Tornado hit. She also made a few stellar plays in the field at shortstop, including turning a 6-3 double play.

“She makes plays like that every day,” O’Donnell said. “She’s a great player and a great person. She’s a senior and picks the team up on the field and off the field. She’s always positive. I can’t say enough about her.”

North Hills 514 13x x — 14 14 0

Butler 000 00x x — 0 1 0

W: Anna McNickle 5IP (4K, 1BB). L: Alex Graham 2IP (1K, 3B).

North Hills (3-1, 2-1): Maddie Posterivo 2-1B 2B RBI, Aidan Harrison 1B RBI, Mekenzie Saban 1B 2B HR 4-RBI, Kallie Kretzler 1B 3-RBI, Leslie Rozanski 1B, Lauren Rebel 1B RBI, Darian Richards 1B RBI, Maddie Traub 2B RBI, Morgan Stone 2-1B

Butler (1-3, 1-2): Noel Pfabe 1B

Friday: Butler at North Allegheny