ROBINSON TWP — Butler baseball coach Dave Florie loathes walks.

He hates them even more now.

Bases on balls sunk the Golden Tornado baseball team in the WPIAL Quad A semifinal against North Allegheny at the Burkett Complex Wednesday night.

Four errors didn't help. Neither did four unearned runs in a 12-8 loss to the Tigers.

But North Allegheny struck the decisive blows in the contest without even swinging the bat.

The most frustrating sequence for Florie came in the top of the fifth inning, with the score tied 8-8, when the Tigers scored four runs without putting the ball in play ,thanks to six walks and a hit batter against three Butler pitchers.

"I hate walks to begin with," Florie said. "I'm probably the biggest hater of walks who ever walked the face of the earth."

The fifth inning put a damper on what was a dramatic Butler comeback.

Golden Tornado starter Joey Marak didn't get out of the first inning, allowing four runs — only two earned.

North Allegheny put two more runs on the board against Matt Monnie in the second inning for a 6-0 lead.

But Butler responded in a big way with eight runs in the bottom of the second inning, chasing Tigers' starter Ryan Oglesby from the game.

"That's the way Butler is," said North Allegheny coach Andy Maddix. "When we were up six, I knew they would keep battling back because they have done that all year. They are a resilient team."

The Tigers showed some resiliency of their own by responding with two runs in the top of the third inning to tie the score at 8.

By the time the dust had settled on the first three innings of play, there were 16 runs scored on 16 hits, six errors, eight runners stranded on base, one sunset and 90 minutes gone on the watch.

"I'm proud of our guys," Maddix said. "After that kind of momentum swing, you could be in trouble. But our guys responded right away with two and made it a new game."

North Allegheny reliever Tanner Wilt stopped the hemorrhaging with 3X\c scoreless innings before he was pulled in the sixth inning for Greg Piehler with one out and runners on first and second.

Piehler got two quick outs to end Butler's last threat.

"It's certainly a credit to our kids for coming back from that kind of deficit," Florie said. "But it was a credit to their kids to recapture the momentum from us."

The disastrous fifth inning began with two walks and a hit batter, prompting Florie to remove Monnie and go to his ace, Zac Sessa.

But the left-hander also struggled with his control, walking Justin Brozick, Jackson Boyd and Dan Wentz with the bases loaded before Florie went to the bullpen again for C.J. Miller.

Sessa lasted just four batters and Z\c of an inning.

Miller walked in another run before getting the next two outs.

But the damage was done.

"(Miller) came up from the JV and we didn't know what to expect," Florie said. "The other guys were either not finding the strike zone or were getting hit real hard."

Butler issued eight walks in the game.

"Our guys have been mentally tough," Maddix said. "We were down against Latrobe the other day (in a 12-4 win) and came back and won. I don't want to get used to that, though."

North Allegheny will play Pine-Richland, a 3-0 winner over Kiski Area Wednesday, in the WPIAL final. Three of the final four teams in the Quad A playoffs were from the Section 1.

"Everybody knew the section was going to be tough," Florie said. "We were fortunate enough to get a playoff spot and then from there, the kids played with a lot of confidence."

Few gave Butler a chance to even make the playoffs, let alone reach the Quad A Final Four.

"I'm really, really super proud of this group, a group that was supposed to do nothing with all the new faces," Florie said. "The most important thing is they are fantastic kids.

"I told them to let it hurt a little bit tonight, but tomorrow, when it is time to turn in their uniforms, to have their heads up. They accomplished an awful lot for Butler High School."

North Allegheny 422 040 0 — 12 10 4Butler 080 000 0 — 8 11 4W: Tanner Wilt (3⅓ IP) 3 K, 1 BB.

L: Matt Monie (32/3 IP) 3 K, 4 BB.

North Allegheny (20-2): Jeff Dassner 2B, 1B, 3-R; Jon Wilson 1B, 3-R; Sean Oglesby 2-1B, RBI; Justin Brozick 1B, RBI; Jackson Boyd 1B, 3-RBI; Brad Comport 3B, 1B, 2-RBI; Dan Wentz 1B, RBI; Nick Butterini RBI

Butler (13-10): Tyler Slepski 2B, 1B, 2-RBI; Dustin Uhlman 2B; John Crummy 1B; Eric King 1B; Evan Oswald 2-1B; Ryan Fennell 1B; Tanner Master 1B, RBI; Tanner McCaw 1B, RBI