BUTLER TWP — There's no wasted motion from Curt Schnur.

He's in his windup even before he stops nodding in acceptance of the catcher's sign.

When he bats, he walks quickly into the box, cocks his bat and waits for the pitch. No practice swing. No pretense.

Just business.

Schnur took care of business Friday night.

The right-hander for the Saxonburg I Eagle County League baseball team pitched a three-hitter, retiring the last 15 batters he faced in a 12-2 win over Zelienople in Game 1 of a semifinal series.

"Curt can do what he wants out there," said Zelienople manager Marty Pegher. "He can get a groundout when he wants a groundout. He can get a popup when he wants a popup. When he walks someone, everyone gasps."

Schnur did walk one, issuing a free pass to DanBinder to lead off the top of the third inning. He didn't allow another baserunner after that.

At the time, the score was deadlocked at two. One of the runs Schnur surrendered was unearned. The other came on a questionable leadoff double by Wes Bonadio that bounded over the third base bag. Bonadio later scored on a single by MattShaffer.

"After we tied it up at two, Curt was like 'This is my game. You're not going to score on me again,'" Saxonburg coach Dan Cunningham said. "He just took over the game."

Schnur didn't even waste many pitches. He went to a three-ball count once over the final 15 Zelienople hitters and fell behind only two batters. He struck out five in a row at one point and used just 12 pitches to cruise through the fourth and fifth innings.

"I've seen him pitch like this before in playoff games," Cunningham said. "He had an attitude like no one was going to take this game from him."

While Schnur was the picture of efficiency, Zelienople pitchers struggled mightily with their control.

Zelie pitchers walked nine batters in the contest and hit another. Five of those batters came around to score.

"The walks really hurt us," Pegher said.

Walks and a key error led to a six-run fifth inning for Saxonburg that all but put the game away.

No. 8 hitter Jeff Foster was the big weapon for Saxonburg. He went 3-for-3 with four RBI. He came up to the plate with the bases loaded three times and two runners on base in his other at-bat.

AustinLeffler, who was coached by Schnur and Saxonburg shortstop Steve Hall during his high school season at Knoch, helped his new teammates with two RBI out of the nine hole. He also came to the plate with the bases loaded three times in the game.

Zelienople 110 000 0—2 3 2Saxonburg 022 062 x—12 11 1WP: Curt Schnur (7 IP) 7 strikeouts, 1 walk.

LP: Damien Mazzetti (5 IP) 3 strikeouts, 6 walks

Zelienople (18-12): Nate Statzer 1B, RBI; Wes Bonadio 2B; Matt Shaffer 1B, RBI

Saxonburg (23-5): Brendan Malone 1B, 2B, 2-RBI; Chase Rowe RBI; JasonCurry 1B, RBI; Schnur 2-1B; Steve Hall 2B; Matt DeSantis 1B; Jeff Foster 3-1B, 4-RBI; Austin Leffler 1B, 2-RBI

Saturday: Game 2, Saxonburg vs. Zelienople at Seneca Valley High School, 2:30 p.m.