Prospect pounds Butler Twp.
BUTLER TWP — Brandon Ray took a month off to rest his weary pitching arm.
On Wednesday, the only arm that was tired after the game was that of Prospect manager and third base coach Paul Malley.
Ray, fresh from a four-week vacation from the mound, struck out seven and gave up just three hits in five innings as Prospect leveled Butler Township 21-4 in the second round of the Butler County American Legion playoffs at Highfield Park.
Ray threw a little more than 60 pitches in an efficient outing. Malley spent seven innings winding his right arm to send a host of runners home.
"I was actually surprised,"Ray said of his outing. "I said 'I'm going to be a little bit rusty, but I'll give you what I can give you.' It was a good night to pitch. I thought I would have kinks, but no kinks."
There were no kinks in Prospect's offense, either, which built leads of 3-0 after the first inning, 6-0 after three innings and 12-2 after four.
A nine-run sixth inning that featured a three-run home run by Ray made it 21-2.
There is no 10-run mercy rule in the Legion playoffs.
Prospect had an ax to grind after losing to Butler Township by the mercy rule the last time the two teams played a little more than a week ago.
"Twenty-one to four is a good win," Ray said. "Last time we played them, we were winning 6-0 in the first three innings and then they came back and beat us and took a picture of the scoreboard. I kind of didn't like that. So I made sure I was going to pitch this game. I figured the best way to shut someone's mouth is to throw a three-hitter, I think."
Butler Township did little right.
Manager Gene Zawrotuk used five pitchers. One of them, Cory Birchbigler, ended his night in his fourth different position.
"We had two safeties, so it wasn't all that bad," Zawrotuk said. "If I had the kitchen sink, I probably would have thrown him, too."
Butler Township's defense didn't help much, committing six errors.
"We were flat," Zawrotuk said. "That's payback time. We beat them twice in the regular season. We were a little flat. When we got behind, we got flatter."
The lone bright spot for Butler Township was Chris Codispot, who hit a two-run home run off of Ray in the fourth inning and then blasted a solo shot in the seventh inning off of reliever Jesse Badgett.
<embed src="/assets/mov/BE23133712.MOV" width="320" height="250" autostart="true" loop="false" align="right"></embed>Prospect (15-4) will play Mars in the winners bracket final at 6 p.m. Friday at Slippery Rock HighSchool.Butler Township (17-5) will play East Butler at 6 p.m. Friday at Speed-O Field.For Prospect, the win was a coming back party; The Prospect Legion team didn't even exist last season.Ray played in Youngstown, Ohio. Several other players suited up in Colt leagues and others didn't play.Prospect right fielder AdamBrydon played for Butler Township last season.But the team was resurrected this season — and had lofty goals."Prospect has had a Legion team for I don't know how long," Ray said. "We just wanted to bring it back."Most of the players are Slippery Rock High students. The lineup Wednesday was almost a carbon copy of the one Malley used in April for the Rockets.Slippery Rock faded late after a fast start and didn't make the high school playoffs. That gave the Prospect players extra motivation for Legion season,Ray said."We should have made it to the playoffs," Ray said. "We have a good core of kids, everyone knows everyone. We knew we could make a good run."<B>Prospect 312 609 0—21 17 1Butler Twp 000 201 1—4 6 6</B>BrandonRay, Jesse Badgett (6, 2 K, 2 BB) and Ryan Ferguson, Ray (6); Matt McCormick, Rob Cochran (3, 1 K, 0 BB), Hunter Lumley (4, 1 K, 0 BB), Lee Will (6, 0 K, 1 BB), Cory Birchbigler (6, 1 K, 2 BB) and Cochran, Birchbigler, Cochran (4).<B>W:</B> Ray (7 K, 1 BB). <B>L:</B> Cochran (2 K, 1 BB).<B>Prospect (15-4):</B> Nick Cress 2-1B RBI, Adam Brydon 2B 2-1B, Mark White 1B 3-R, Brandon Ray 1B HR 3-RBI, Ryan Ferguson 2-1B 3B 3-RBI, Sean Lefebvre 2B 1B RBI, Travis McDougall 2B 2-RBI, Jesse Badgett 2B 2-1B 2-RBI<B>Butler Township (17-5):</B> Bubba Uhlman 1B RBI, Jordan Roycroft 2B 1B, Chris Codispot 2-HR 3-RBI, Cory Birchbigler 3B<B>Friday:</B> Mars vs. Prospect at Slippery Rock High School, 6 p.m.
