BUTLER TWP - First, the good news.

In its first game of the season, the Butler High baseball team collected at least one hit in every inning, received two scoreless frames from relief pitcher Trevor Dunkel and turned a 5-2 deficit into a 6-5 lead with four runs in the fourth inning.

The bad news was the Golden Tornado (0-1) stranded eight base runners and relinquished their brief lead in an 8-6 defeat to Franklin Wednesday afternoon at Highfield Park.

"Overall, I'm pleased with our performance," said Butler coach Ron Zawrotuk. "We got some good hitting and Trevor threw real well for two innings."

The game's deciding runs came off of Butler's Brian Bell, who relieved starter Mike Woodward before the top of the fourth inning.

With the Golden Tornado leading 6-5 in the top of the fifth, Franklin's Ryan Smith walked and scored on Andy Riddle's double.

The Knights (1-0) took the lead for good when the next batter, Jake Hasson, homered over the right-field fence, scoring courtesy runner Cody Monarch in front of him.

"That ended up being the difference for us," said Franklin coach Curt Ditzenberger. "It was a big hit."

Butler stranded four runners over the final three innings, three of them in scoring position.

The Tornado had two men on with two outs in its final at-bat, but Franklin's Matt Lynn forced Brandon Johnson into a fielder's choice to end the game.

Designated hitter Jim McCaslin led Butler's 11-hit attack with three hits and two RBI.

His two–run double in the bottom of the fourth inning scored Aaron Ordy and Anthony Pinto to give Butler the lead.

The runs came off of Franklin's Dusty McElhattan, but the relief pitcher was the recipient of his team's three runs in the next half inning, giving him the win.

Dunkel relieved Bell at the start of the sixth inning, striking out two and walking one in his two innings of work.

"We need these kids to start building confidence in themselves and what they're doing," said Zawrotuk. "There were some negatives in today's game, but there were also a lot of positives."

The Knights played the entire game on a sloppy field without an error.

"We may not have had any physical errors, but we did commit several mental errors," said Ditzenberger. "Things like not being in the right place for (cutoffs) … but those are things you fix in practice, and, because of the weather, we've had to practice inside."

Woodward (3), Bell (2) and Dunkel combined for seven strikeouts for Butler.

The Knights opened the game with two runs in the first inning.

Lynn, who began the game at first base, doubled to deep center, scoring Mark Shouey and Matt Reitz.

Smith started on the mound for the Knights and worked three innings, allowing two runs on four hits.

Franklin 203 030 0 - 8 10 0

Butler 011 400 0 - 6 11 2

WP:

Dusty McElhattan (2 IP) 1 strikeout, 0 walks.

LP:

Brian Bell (2 IP) 2 strikeouts, 1 walk

Franklin (1-0):

Jake Hasson HR R 2RBI, Matt Reitz 1B 2B 2R, Ryan Smith 1B 2B 2RBI R, Matt Lynn 2-2B 2RBI, Andy Riddle 2B RBI

Butler (0-1):

Jim McCaslin 2-1B 2B 2RBI, Adam Miller 1B 2B, Andy Onufrak 1B 2B R, Tom Wigton 1B 2B RBI

Today:

Blackhawk @ Butler