JACKSON TWP — Colby Anderson's off-speed stuff wasn't working.

The left-hander's fastball was just fine, however.

Anderson limited Seneca Valley to five hits in six innings Wednesday at Raider Field. He got a critical third out with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position in the sixth as Butler edged the Raiders, 2-1, in a Section 1-6A baseball game.

“Colby was having trouble spotting his breaking stuff, but he still had two pitches,” Butler coach Cody Herald said. “He was spotting his fastball on the inside and outside corners.

“When you can locate on both sides of the plate, the fastball becomes two pitches.”

The Golden Tornado (3-8, 2-3) scored twice in the third inning. Anderson walked and Nathan Stutz was hit by a pitch. J.R. Herold bunted the runners up.

Simon Brown delivered a sacrifice fly and Mattix Clement blooped a run-scoring single to left.

Butler produced four consecutive singles in the first inning, but did not score a run. Anderson singled to right with one out, but his pinch-runner was picked off. Stutz, Herold and Brown all singled to load the bases before David Leslie's sinking fly ball to left-center wound up in the glove of sliding left fielder Matt Stanger.

“We were aggressive at the plate and I thought we were going to knock their pitcher out of there early,” Herald said. “We made some mistakes on the bases and took our foot off the gas pedal a little bit.”

But Anderson was in control of the Raider bats. He limited Seneca Valley to two singles in the first four innings. Mark Trotta doubled with two outs in the fifth, but Cory Greiner grounded out to shortstop to end the threat.

Greiner pitched a complete game for the Raiders (9-3, 3-2), throwing 90 pitches, but could not prevent SV from having its four-game winning streak snapped.

“Too many bad at-bats,” Seneca Valley coach Eric Semega said. “That's attributable to their pitcher, but we never adjusted at the plate.

“He kept getting us out on the same pitches. We have to be better than that at the plate.”

The Raiders nearly grabbed the lead in the sixth. With two outs and the bases empty, Josh McLean was hit by a pitch. Anderson then allowed a single to left by Austin Shirley and a run-scoring double deep down the left field line by Stanger.

Gabe Lawson flew out to center, ending the inning and Anderson's day at 98 pitches.

“I'm pretty sure I got him out on a fastball,” Anderson said of the Lawson at-bat. “I couldn't get my curve over the plate today.

“Fortunately, I had command of my fastball. I was able to spot it inside and out.”

Shane McIntire pitched the seventh for the Tornado and retired the side in order.

Both teams played errorless baseball, except for a botched rundown by the Raiders in the second inning that did not yield a run.

“We got good pitching and defense today. We've been getting that,” Semega said. “But the other third of the game — hitting — let us down.”

Anderson referred to the game as “a big momentum win for us. Now we have to keep on winning.”

The victory puts Butler back in the playoff hunt. It also snapped a three-game losing streak.

Butler had two runners picked off first and a third thrown out at third trying to advance on a fly out to center.

“We've been struggling and this win should pick us up,” Herald said. “We still have to find a way to push more runs across the plate, but this was a nice win against a very good team.

“Seneca Valley can hit the ball. Today, we held them in check. That was nice to see.”

Butler 002 000 0 — 2 8 0

Seneca Valley 000 001 0 — 1 5 0

W: Colby Anderson 6IP (5K, 2BB). L: Cory Greiner 7IP (3K, 3BB).

Butler (3-8, 2-3): Kyle Weitzel 2B, Colby Anderson 1B, Nathan Stutz 2-1B, J.R. Herold 1B, Simon Brown 1B RBI, Mattix Clement 1B RBI, Cooper Baxter 2B

Seneca Valley (9-3, 3-2): Mark Trotta 2B, Cory Greiner 1B, Austin Shirley 2-1B, Matt Stanger RBI 2B

Thursday: Hopewell at Butler

Tuesday: Seneca Valley at Plum