Ryan Geibel pitched three scoreless innings of relief and East Butler erupted for three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to topple Meridian 7-4 in the opening round of the Butler County American Legion Baseball Tournament Thursday evening.

Top-seeded East Butler needed the sixth-inning outburst to thwart an upset bid from No. 8 seed Meridian.

Dallas O'Donnell singled home two runs and Nick Rossmiller had two hits for East Butler (14-2).

Caleb Trombatt recorded a single and a double for Meridian (4-12).

In other tournament games:

n Nick Perry struck out five and gave up two hits in a complete game as Zelienople defeated Mars, 5-3.

James Peffer's two-run single in the top of the sixth inning gave Zelie the lead for good.

• Chris Codispot smacked two doubles, a triple and drove in five runs to power Butler City past Cranberry Township, 13-4.

Meridian 001 300 0—4 5 5East Butler 004 003 x—7 6 1W: Ryan Geibel 3 IP (3 K, 0 BB).

L: Zach Cuffman 6 IP (6 K, 5 BB).

Meridian (4-12): Caleb Trombatt 1B, 2B

East Butler (14-2): Nick Rossmiller 2-1B; Mike Bresnahan 2B; Dallas O'Donnell 1B, 2-RBI

Saturday: Zelienople at East Butler, 6 p.m.; Meridian at Mars, 6 p.m.

Zelienople 002 003 0—5 5 3Mars 003 000 0—3 2 0W: Nick Perry 7IP (5 K, 2 BB).

L: Lee Lawver 7IP (10 K, 3 BB).

Zelienople: James Peffer 1B 2 RBI, Josh Mann 1B 2 RBI

Mars: Zach Bear 2 RBI

Saturday: Zelienople at East Butler; Meridian at Mars

Cranberry Twp 010 001 2—4 2 5Butler City 240 601 x—13 10 2W: Jose Cumba 7IP (11 K, 2 BB).

L: Ference 4IP (3 K, 1 BB).

Butler City: Chris Codispot 2-2B 3B 5 RBI, Brian Anthony 3-1B 2 RBI, Ken Rosenbauer 2-1B

Saturday: Butler City at Prospect; Center Township at Cranberry Township