Iron-like effort for Butler
Little went wrong for the Butler Iron Bucks in their Tri-State Collegiate League baseball opener Thursday against the Pittsburgh Diamond Dawgs.
The scoreboard reflected that dominance.
Five of Butler's 14 hits went for extra bases and three pitchers combined to blank the Dawgs through eight innings as the Iron Bucks posted an 8-2 win in front of over 400 fans at Michelle Krill Field at Historic Pullman Park.
“I'll take it,” said Butler manager Dan Helgert. “Offensively, we spread the ball around and hit the gaps, which was good to see.”
The Bucks held a slim 2-0 lead before busting out in the top of the sixth frame. Against Pittsburgh reliever Jay Cortese, Butler plated three runs on four hits to take a 5-0 edge.
The effort included an RBI-double from Jake McNabb and an RBI-single from Anthony Sebastian.
The run support was more than enough considering the efficiency with which Butler's pitchers worked against Pittsburgh's lineup.
Following five shut-out innings from starter and winning pitcher Josh Bell, Knoch High graduate Alex Stobert (two innings) and Butler High product Shawn Marcellus (one) helped the Bucks take an 8-0 lead into the ninth inning.
Stobert struck out the side in the sixth frame and worked a perfect seventh.
A late signee for the Bucks, Stobert pitched this spring as a junior for Miami (Ohio) University after spending two seasons in Florida at Tallahassee Community College.
“I was a starter in junior college and was hoping to be one at Miami, but things didn't go as I had planned,” said Stobert. “I ended up in the bullpen and closed games for a while.”
Stobert previously starred at Pullman Park for Knoch and the Butler BlueSox.
“This place is in my backyard,” he said. “Conviction and intent will take you a long way and I'm here to build some confidence.”Helgert has high hopes for Stobert.“He was bringing it tonight and we hope that will continue,” he said. “He will start some games for us.”The Dawgs avoided the shutout by scoring a pair of runs off Butler reliever Nick Luciano. Both Luke Whalen and Nic Mari had run-scoring groundouts in the bottom of the ninth.Pittsburgh was held to six hits in the game.“I thought our starter (Jacob Seymour) pitched a heck of a game, we just didn't put the ball in play enough,” said Pittsburgh manager Jim Burns. “You're not going to win many games doing that, but our offensive production will be pretty good. Most of these guys haven't picked up a bat in a month. Two runs will not be our average.”Seymour struck out five and walked none in his five innings. He allowed two runs on seven hits.Bell began Butler's impressive night on the mound, striking out eight and walking one in his five innings. He allowed four hits, all singles.“He kept the ball down and his breaking ball was on tonight,” Helgert said.Knoch High graduate Jake Herrit had two base hits and a run scored for Butler.Both teams will host doubleheaders at Pullman Park on Saturday. The Diamond Dawgs will face the Steel City Black Sox at noon and 2:30 p.m.
The Iron Bucks will play the Allegheny Athletics at 5 and 7:30 p.m.Iron Bucks 001 013 120 — 8 14 1Diamond Dawgs 000 000 002 — 2 6 1W: Josh Bell 5 IP (8K, 1BB). L: Jacob Seymour 5 IP (5K, 0BB).Iron Bucks (1-0): Ryan Lynn 1B R, Jake Herrit 2-1B R, Jake McNabb 1B 2B R RBI, Nick Reynosa 3B R RBI, Anthony Sebastian 1B 2B R RBI, Dan Williams 1B 2B 2R, Tyler Woodrow 2-1B RBI, Isaiah Lucas 2BDiamond Dawgs (0-1): Chris Gillete 1B 2B, Luke Whalen 1B RBI, Nic Mari RBISaturday: Steel City Black Sox at Diamond Dawgs (DH); Allegheny Athletics at Iron Bucks
