Most baseball teams have one ace.

If you've got two star pitchers, you're in select company.

And if you have three aces up your sleeve, you're Dan Cunningham.

The grin on the Saxonburg coach's face isn't an attempt to be conceited or cocky.

It's just that the Eagle County League coach knows the wealth of talent he has in three right arms waiting for their next start.

Curt Schnur, Nate Buttenfield and Kevin Orga have been setting down batters faster than their opponents can say, "Mismatch."

The trio have combined for an 18-4 record as Saxonburg (26-6) prepares to defend its title against Natrona Heights at 6 p.m. Saturday.

"What each of them brings to the game from a knowledge standpoint, you can't put a number on that," said Cunningham.

All three pitchers played professional baseball.

Schnur was taken in the 1995 draft by Atlanta, pitching with the team's Class A affiliate, the Danville Braves, for one season.

Buttenfield was drafted by Seattle in 1999 and spent time in both the Frontier and Texas/Louisiana Spring leagues.

Orga, who is a cousin of San Diego shortstop Khalil Greene, went to spring training with the Cubs in 2001. He also had stints in the Northern and Central leagues.

Their dreams of a professional baseball career are behind them, but their love for the game is as strong as ever."All three of us coach baseball," said Schnur, who is the head coach at Knoch High School. Orga heads North Catholic's varsity program and Buttenfield is an assistant coach at North Hills.Buttenfield and Orga, both 28, are nearing the end of their first season with Saxonburg, while Schnur is in his 10th season with the team."All three guys are very motivated to play the game and they also love to teach it," said Cunningham."And they all bring their own styles of pitching to the mound," Cunningham added. "Nate's a power pitcher. He's got good command of his fastball. Kevin is much more of a finesse pitcher with a good breaking ball and Curt keeps hitters off-balance with a great slider."Each pitcher has been on his game this season and opposing batters are paying the price.Schnur, 32, is tops on the team with a 1.18 earned run average. He has struck out 59 batters compared to just six walks. It has translated into a perfect 9-0 record for the veteran hurler."I don't have the strikeout numbers like I used to," said Schnur. "I just go out and throw strikes because we've got great players at every position and I know they can make the plays behind me. Overall, I'd say this is the most talent we've had since I joined the team.""It's a great feeling knowing you can go out and just let the hitters put the ball in play," said Orga, who is currently 5-1 and has a 1.20 ERA.Buttenfield's modest 4-3 record belies a 1.34 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 47 innings pitched."The only other pitching staff in league history that could compare to this one is our 1996 team," said Cunningham. "That staff included Curt (Schnur), Rick Schnur, Darin Cunningham and Jeff Woller. It was a very overpowering staff."I might be a bit biased, but I also know this league's history. I've researched it back to 1932."And with three pitchers putting up great numbers night in and night out, are they competitive with each other?"Seeing the other guys do well, yeah, it drives you," said Orga. "You never want to be outdone, but I think it's more a case of not wanting to let the team down."Through it all, the players know that their ultimate goal has yet to be reached - a championship."We've got a lot of great players," said Buttenfield. "It's exciting to know we've got a shot to win it all. Playing on this team, I feel like a kid again."