Adam Palace homered and drove in four runs as Butler Township built a 10-1 lead after three innings and held off a furious Zelienople rally for a 15-11 win in Butler County American Legion baseball Friday.

Joe Rekich added a triple and two singles for Butler Township (11-6-1), which needs wins over Meridian Saturday and Cranberry Township Sunday to force a one-game playoff with East Butler for the regular-season title.

In other action:

Joe Duncan homered and Tom Levere had four hits, including a double, as Meridian rallied to beat Karns City 12-11 in eight innings.

Karns City led 8-5 after three innings, but Meridian put up six runs in the finals two innings and held off a KC rally in the bottom of the eighth for the victory.

Butler Twp 028 203 0 -15 13 3

Zelienople 010 134 2 -11 13 4

WP:

Brian Bell (6 IP) 6 strikeouts, 1 walk.

LP:

Drew Snyder (4 IP) 3 strikeouts, 0 walks

Butler Township (11-6-1):

Adam Palace HR, 4-RBI; Joe Rekich 3B, 2-1B; Ryan Rekich 3-1B; Matt McCune 2-1B.

Zelienople:

Drew Snyder 2B, 1B; Carl Habsburg 2B, 1B; Restenwall 2B, 1B

Meridian 401 010 24 -12 15 3

Karns City 071 000 03 -11 9 3

WP:

Jay McDonough (6 IP) 5 strikeouts, 5 walks.

LP:

Jon Pennington (7 IP) 1 strikeout, 3 walks

Meridian (9-9):

Scott Cukovich 3-1B; Tom Levere 2B, 3-1B; Joe Duncan HR, 2-1B; Marcus Ballew 2-1B

Karns City:

Dave Slagle 2B, 2-1B; Kyle Texter HR; Chad Bell 3-1B