It wasn't a good night to be a member of the Butler BlueSox Prospect League baseball team.

Five pitchers gave up nine runs on 18 hits against Chillicothe (Ohio.).

The BlueSox fielders behind those five pitchers committed five errors.

Despite all those gaffs, Butler was in a position to win, but fell short 9-6 against the Paints at Pullman Park Friday night.

"Tonight we got beat because we didn't play fundamental baseball," said Butler manager Jason Wuerfel.

And because Chillicothe could bunt, beating out six bunt singles.

"Chillicothe did the right thing," Wuerfel said. "They kept going to the well when they saw what worked, and we didn't make an adjustment."

Still, despite the errors and the misplays, Butler had the tying run on deck in the bottom of the ninth inning.

"On the good side of things, I have to say if you give up 18 hits and boot five balls, you don't expect to be in the game," Wuerfel said. "Our guys, like they have all season, fought back right to the end."

After taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, Chillicothe scored four runs in the top of the third inning, keyed by back-to-back bunt singles.

Butler responded, closing the gap to 4-3 on a two-run home run by Ryan McChesney.

The BlueSox tied the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, thanks to a run-scoring double by Brian Billigen, but Chillicothe regained the lead with four runs in the top of the eighth.

Butler got as close as 8-6, but, down by three runs in the bottom of the ninth, it stranded Zach Noonan at second base.

BlueSox starting pitcher Tom Nagy lasted only four innings. Andrew DiNardo relieved Nagy and was the most effective Butler pitcher of the night, striking out four in two scoreless innings.

Aaron Ordy, a Butler High graduate, had two hits and an RBI, and Jacke Healey also had two hits.

Still, fielding problems continue to plague Butler. The BlueSox have committed 52 errors, the second most in the Prospect League.

"We botch those routine ones, and that is a problem," Wuerfel said. "I think some of our players overthink those a little bit. The plays where we don't have to think, we're making diving plays, make phenomenal plays."

Wuerfel said he didn't believe the three days off for the Prospect League all-star break had anything to do with the fielding woes Friday.

"I'm not going to make any excuses," Wuerfel said. "The main thing for us to to learn from our mistakes and correct them tomorrow. We can't keep making the same mistakes or we're not going to have a chance to win our division.

Notes: The loss dropped Butler 2Z\x games behind first-place Chillicothe in the East standings. ... The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 23 minutes by rain. Butler's Brian Youchak went 0-for-5, but still leads the league in hitting with a .347 average. ... Ordy has raised his average to .241. The second baseman was hitting .200 heading into July.

Chillicothe 004 000 041 — 9 18 3Butler 010 201 020 — 6 12 5W: Eric Heckaman (3 IP) 3 K, 0 BB.

L: Derek Peluso (1 IP) 0 K, 1 BB.

Chillicothe (21-17): Tim Krofcheck 1B, 2B, RBI; Andy Bruse 3-1B; Ben Allen 3-1B, RBI

Butler (17-18): Ryan McChesney HR, 2-RBI; Aaron Ordy 2-1B, RBI; Jacke Healey 2B, 1B; Brian Billigen 2B

Saturday: Richmond (Ind.) at Butler, 5:35 p.m.; Chillicothe at Slippery Rock, 7:05 p.m.