The Butler BlueSox returned from their most recent road trip with a piece of franchise history.

The team clinched its first-ever Prospect League playoff berth with a 3-2 win at Lorain County Saturday night. The win earned for Butler first place in the East Division’s second-half standings.

The Sox, who won for the 16th time in 17 games with an 11-2 drubbing of Champion City at Kelly Automotive Park Sunday evening, will host Chillicothe (first-half East Division winner) in the first game of a best-of-three semifinal series Wednesday. A pep rally will take place outside the park before gates open at 5:30 p.m. First pitch is set for 6:35.

For Butler manager Anthony Rebyanski, who has been with the team for four seasons, seeing his squad clinch Saturday night was a moment to remember.

“It was good to see,” he said. “There’s a lot of pressure this time of the year, but the coaching staff has done a good job of keeping the guys relaxed. They’re having fun.”

Mick Fennell scored all three of Butler’s runs in Saturday’s victory, including the eventual winning run on a sacrifice fly from Collin Massanelli in the top of the fifth inning. Fennell is batting .470 (16-for-34) during a current nine-game hitting streak. He, along with Cody Herald and Colin McKee, are the three Butler High School products who have contributed to the Sox’s first playoff run. McKee struck out seven in just three innings of relief work in Sunday’s win.

“It feels great,” Fennell said. “This is the hometown team and this is the best season the BlueSox have ever had. Our pitching has been great all year and the bats have come around. Hopefully, we can continue this into the playoffs.”

The BlueSox placed third in the East Division’s first half with a 15-13 record, four and a half games behind Chillicothe.

“If you don’t win the first half, it’s really tough,” said Rebyanski. “That’s when a lot of teams start to pick up their best players and the competition gets a lot better. We’ve lost a lot of guys, but others have stepped into key roles for us. Getting good pitching, hitting and fielding has become a trend for us in the second half. We’re going to take it one game at a time.”

Butler catcher Russell Clark was part of last year’s team that let a playoff berth slip away over the final weekend of the regular season.

“It’s really exciting,” he said of getting to the postseason this time. “This whole year has been a lot of fun. We’ve been hot lately. If we continue to play this way, we can beat anybody.”

“We have great team chemistry,” Fennell added. “Everybody on the team gets along.”

Before the playoffs begin, Butler (39-19, 24-6) will host Chillicothe today at 6:35 p.m. The BlueSox will then close the regular season with a home game against Richmond (Ind.) on Tuesday.

Saturday

Butler 101 010 000 — 3 6 0

Lorain County 000 200 000 — 2 5 0

W: Dave Yakopec 3 1/3 IP (1K, 0BB). L: Daugherty 8 IP (8K, 1BB). S: Austin Ross 1 IP (2K, 1BB).

Butler: Mick Fennell 2-2B 3B 3R, Collin Massanelli 2B 2RBI, Ryan Hanahan 1B, Cody Herald RBI, Ryan Uhl 1B

Lorain County: Bires 1B 2RBI, Salem 2-1B, Langhals 1B, Peterlin 1B R, Bova R

Sunday

Champion City 110 000 000 — 2 7 3 Butler 130 020 32x — 11 8 0

W: Nick Yobbi 5 IP (3K, 4BB). L: Joe Pourier 4 2/3 IP (1K, 8BB).

Champion City (8-23): Cooper Mickelson 1B 2B RBI, Tanner Reibenspies 3B R, Landon Lucansky 1B RBI, Leiff Clarkson 2-1B, Ian Horne 1B, Jaden Cleland R

Butler (24-6): Stephen Sada 2R, Mick Fennell 2-1B R RBI, Ryan Hanahan 1B R 2RBI, Cody Herald R, Stuart Levy 2R, Ryan Uhl 2-1B 2B R 2RBI, Jeff Revesz 2R, Collin Massanelli 2B R 2RBI, Russell Clark RBI, Forrest Perron 1B

Today: Chillicothe at Butler