No Freebies Here
For the first time this season, the Butler baseball team lost the “Freebie War.”
It's a term first-year Golden Tornado coach Cody Herald uses to describe walks, errors and hit batters.
Central Catholic had the advantage in all three.
And it cost Butler.
Dearly.
A pair of Vikings' pitchers held Butler to just two hits and leadoff hitter Vinny Rauso did the rest, driving in all three runs as Central Catholic bested the Tornado on another blustery, cold and snowy Monday night at Kelly Automotive Park, 3-1.
“They didn't give that many free things to us,” Herald lamented. “We preach about the 'Freebie War.' If you win the 'Freebie War' you have a great chance of winning the game. And we lost it.”
Butler (6-1, 3-1) had ace Connor Ollio on the mound against Central Catholic (6-3, 2-2) and he found himself in trouble in the second and third innings, but was able to get out of it.
With Vikings on second and third and no one out in the top of the second, Ollio got a pair of strikeouts and then a fly out to right to escape.
In the third with runners again on second and third with one out, Ollio fanned back-to-back batters to end the inning unscathed.
The big right-hander's luck ran out in the fourth, however.
With two runners on and one out, Ollio got another strikeout — his eighth of the game — but hit No. 9 hitter Tyler Casciato in the back with a pitch to load the bases for Rauso, who snuck a two-run single up the middle for a 2-0 Central lead.
Rauso struck again in the top of the sixth inning against reliever Grant Metzger, who got the first two outs of the frame but walked Casciato.
Rauso stepped to the plate, fouled off several two-strike pitches, and then smashed a double off the left-field wall that plated Casciato from first for a 3-1 lead.
“He made us pay,” Herald said.
Central Catholic pitchers Cal Tomasic and Marshall McGraw made Butler hitters look like mere mortals.
Tomasic got the start and went 3 2/3 innings for the win. McGraw relieved him and gave up a fielder's choice RBI to Jacob Keene that scored Ollio, who led off the inning with a double.McGraw fanned four in 3 1/3 innings to get the save.“(McGraw) is my No. 1 and we have only two games this week, so we weren't sure what we wanted to do with him, so we held him back,” said Central Catholic coach Pat Walsh. “We knew we wanted to use him if we were winning and Cal has been giving us great innings all year.“It worked out,” Walsh added, smiling. “Sometimes your plan doesn't work out. Tonight it worked out.”For the first time, Butler's plan didn't work out.The Tornado have excelled this season in drawing walks, getting hit by pitches, timely hitting and being solid in the field.Most of those things deserted Butler Monday night.And also for the first time, the weather seemed to affect the Tornado, who have now played three home games in snow and temperatures hovering near freezing.“You'd think we'd never played in this,” Herald said. “You'd think this was the worst weather of the year. Like I've said, you can't control the weather, just how you react to it.“There's a difference between wanting something and having it,” Herald added. “You can say all you want that you want it. But if you have to have it, you'll find a way. That's what it looked like. (Central Catholic) played like they had to have everything.”Butler now must play rival Seneca Valley on the road Wednesday afternoon coming off a tough loss.It's an opportunity, though, for Herald to see if his team can regroup after its first taste of adversity.“You drive down every road, there's a pothole,” Herald said. “There's always going to be something in your way. You just have to push past it. I'm anxious to see how we respond to this.”Central Cath. 000 201 0 — 3 7 1Butler 000 100 0 — 1 2 2W: Cal Tomasic 3.2IP (2K, 1BB). L: Connor Ollio 4IP (8K, 3BB). SV: Marshall McGraw 3.1IP (4K, 0BB)Central Catholic (6-3, 2-2): Vinny Rauso 2-2B 1B 3-RBI, Andrew Walker 1B, Brandon Gelpi 2-2B, Josh Egan 1BButler (6-1, 3-1): Nick Kibbie 1B, Connor Ollio 2B, Jacob Keene RBIWednesday: Butler at Seneca Valley
