JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley is rolling.

The defending Class AAAA state baseball champion Raiders used a five-hitter by left-hander Kyle Helisek and four RBI from No. 9 hitter Mike Eonta to defeat Butler, 7-1, Wednesday at Raider Field.

The Raiders won their fifth straight game — outscoring the opposition 43-6 during that stretch — to pull into a first-place tie with Butler in Section 1.

"This was an important game for us and we were excited about it in school today,"Eonta said. "They lead the section and we already had a loss, so we needed this."

Helisek limited Butler's scoring chances and Eonta cashed in on Seneca Valley's opportunities.

Helisek threw 94 pitches, including 63 strikes, and allowed only one Golden Tornado baserunner to reach third base. That was Tim Geibel, who doubled and scored on a Ryan Geibel sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Tim Geibel had three of Butler's five hits.

"(The Tornado) like to be aggressive at the plate and on the bases, and we limited their opportunities that way,"SVcoach Eric Semega said.

Ryan Geibel's sacrifice fly pulled the Tornado within 3-1 before the Raiders broke the game open with a four-run sixth inning.

As he was all day, Eonta was in the middle of the uprising.

The senior second baseman delivered a run-scoring single to left with two outs in the second inning, helping his team take a 2-0 lead.

Eonta's two-out double to left plated Dan Jergel in the fourth and expanded the margin to 3-0.

"It's nice to have a No. 9 hitter who can swing the bat like that kid,"Butler coach Dave Florie said. "He hurt us today."

With one out in the SVsixth, Ryan Turner doubled to left and Phil Double singled that way. With runners at the corners, Florie pulled starting pitcher Zach Cuffman and replaced him with Nick Rossmiller.

Eonta greeted Rossmiller with a two-run double to left, then scored on Ken Walrond's single up the middle. Walrond eventually scored on an infield error to complete the rally.

"Up until that inning, this was another competitive baseball game,"Florie said. "We're 9-for-9 in that regard and I told the kids after the game I was proud of them — again.

"I wanted to see how Zach Cuffman would fare against a tough lineup like this and he pitched very well. He kept us in the game."

The bottom three hitters in Seneca Valley's lineup — Turner, Double and Eonta — were a combined 7-for-9 with five runs scored and Eonta's four RBI.

"We're getting production from 1 through 9 in our order on a fairly consistent basis now and that's encouraging,"Semega said. "We use Mike in the No. 9 spot to turn the lineup over."

Butler 000 001 0—1 5 3Seneca Valley 020 104 x—7 11 0Zach Cuffman (L, 4 K, 3 BB), Nick Rossmiller (6, 1 K, 0 BB) and Ryan Geibel; Kyle Helisek (W, 5 K, 2 BB) and Ryan Turner.

Butler (6-3, 5-1): Tim Geibel 2B 2-1B, Bill Coleman 1B, Ryan Geibel RBI, David Schmidt 1B

Seneca Valley (8-1, 5-1): Ken Walrond 1BRBI, Cory Mazzoni 2-1B, Tyler Bream 1B, Ryan Turner 2B 1B 2-R, Phil Double 2B 1B 2-R, Mike Eonta 2-2B 1B 4-RBI

Friday: Neshannock at Butler

Saturday: Franklin at Butler

Monday: Shaler at Butler, North Allegheny at Seneca Valley