PITTSBURGH — La Roche College is enjoying one of its best baseball seasons ever.

And there is a definite Butler County flavor to the Redhawks’ success.

Knoch graduate Chase Rowe is in his seventh year as head coach of the team. La Roche recently concluded the regular season with a 27-11 overall record, 13-3 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.

Finishing second in the AMCC to Penn State Behrend (15-1), the defending AMCC champion Redhawks are the No. 2 seed and have a first-round bye as the conference tournament opens Saturday.

“Based on the record and numbers we’ve put together, this could be our best team ever,” Rowe allowed. “A lot of these guys are coming back, too.”

A pair of Butler graduates — junior pitcher Ryan Fennell and freshman center fielder Colin Williamson — are among players putting together strong seasons at La Roche this spring.

Fennell is a regular in the starting rotation and has a 5-2 record with a 2.66 earned run average. He has 31 strikeouts in 44 innings pitched and recently needed only 68 pitches while tossing a shutout.

Williamson is hitting .314 with a home run, 17 RBI and five stolen bases as an every day player.

“Ryan has developed a slider and splitter this year and has really become a complete pitcher,” Rowe said. “We decided to take him out of the DH role and let him concentrate on solely pitching this year.

“He’s got a talented and gifted arm. It has a chance to get him to the next level.”

At 6-foot-4, 245 pounds, Fennell dropped 25 pounds since last season and hopes to lose another 15 by next season.

“Losing the weight has definitely helped,” Fennell said. “I’m locating my fastball better and I’m changing speeds a lot more.

“I’ve always had pitching potential and had to find a way to bring it out.”

Major league scouts have taken notice of Fennell’s numbers. His ERA was as low as 1.41 recently.

“He’s got a chance (to be drafted) next year if he puts in another summer of hard work — and I know he’s going to,” Rowe said.

Fennell’s training regimen has consisted of eating healthier and lifting weights. He does the bulk of his training during the off-season.

His goal is to be drafted by a major league club in June of 2014.

“When you pitch for a good team, you always have motivation to get better because you don’t want to let anybody down,” Fennell said. “When you’re out there pitching and see major league scouts putting radar guns on you, that motivates you that much more.”

Fennell has exceeded 90 miles per hour on the radar guns.

“Someone throwing that hard with his body frame is going to attract (pro) interest,” Rowe said.

Williamson played mostly shortstop for the Golden Tornado last spring, but was asked to move to center field at La Roche.

He hit .348 for Butler last season. Williamson spent three years in the outfield before that.

“I like his speed out there ... and he’s been phenomenal,” Rowe said.

“I could play shortstop if they wanted me there,” Williamson said. “I’ll play wherever they need me to be.”

When Williamson first arrived at La Roche, his goal was to simply earn some playing time during his first year.

“I knew I was joining a good team,” he said. “I’m happy with the way things have gone. If I can keep hitting above .300 and help the team win some more championships ... That’s all I want.”

Rowe said Williamson has been one of those players who “speeds up his learning curve.”

“He continually develops himself as a hitter,” the coach said.

Batting eighth in the deep Redhawks’ lineup has assisted him in that regard.

“I’ve never hit this low in a lineup and it was new to me,” Williamson said. “But you get a chance to see a lot of pitches before you get up to bat.

“When you pay attention to that, it really helps.”