Saxonburg is used to protecting leads.

Pitchers James Flemm and Mike McCarty did so again Sunday night. They joined Karns City's Jimmy Thompson in tossing four scoreless innings to close out a 10-6 victory in the Butler County American Legion Baseball All-Star Game at Kelly Automotive Park.

A contingent of players from Saxonburg, Karns City and East Butler defeated the all-stars from West Sunbury, Cranberry, Meridian and Center Township.

“I had confidence in anybody on our (all-star) team who volunteered to pitch tonight,” Saxonburg manager Mike Hickey said. “These are all good kids. I would welcome any of them on my team.”

Saxonburg's Logan Hickey pitched the first two innings of the contest. Flemm tossed the fifth and sixth, McCarty the eighth and ninth.

Once-beaten Saxonburg drew a first-round bye in this week's league tournament as the No. 1 seed.

“We don't play again until Thursday in the tournament,” Coach Hickey said. “I was going to pitch my guys two innings each tonight since we have more time off.”

Thompson, Karns City's Nolan Riley and East Butler's David Matson pitched an inning each for the winners. Riley also had a big night at the plate, collecting a double, single, two RBI and a run scored.

“That felt good tonight,” Riley said. “I thought we came together as a team pretty well. Everybody came out here and played hard.

“You always want to win. I was happy to get those hits and help out.”

One of the best pitching efforts of the night came from West Sunbury's Hunter Fitzingo. He struck out six and allowed no walks in three innings. He was nipped for a couple of runs on four hits.

“That kid is only 16,” West Sunbury manager Brian Williams said. “His fastball has a lot of life to it. He's got nice stuff on the mound.

“This is my third all-star game and it's all about fun for the kids. Everybody gets together and you want to put on a good show.”

Both teams had 15 players. The batting orders went one through 15 as everybody took a regular spot in the lineup throughout the night.

Meridian's Jace Stutz singled, doubled and scored two runs. Hickey had a pair of singles and scored twice as well. Meridian's Nick Grosch doubled and walked.

Cranberry's Jesse Cleary had a two-run single in the fourth inning to help his team take a 5-3 lead at the time.

The game turned for good in the bottom of the fourth as the Saxonburg-Karns City-East Butler team scored four times to take the lead for good. Hickey singled to center and scored on a McCarty ground ball. East Butler's Brandon Hildebrand and Hickey both singled, scoring on a passed ball and wild pitch, respectively.

McCarty reached on an error and scored on a wild pitch to complete the inning.

“Sometimes our league gets overshadowed by AAU and travel ball,” Coach Hickey said. “But we've got some kids who can play this game, too. And they stayed in their hometown to do it.”

Prior to the game, the BCAL awarded $1,000 scholarships to Logan Hickey, East Butler's Hunter Scott and Center Township's Caleb Baxter.