Cranberry holds on to earn BCABL title
Cranberry Township grew accustomed to coming back during the Butler County Area Baseball League's postseason tournament.
It defeated Karns City and Meridian after falling behind, then did so in last week's king seat title game against Saxonburg.
So when Saxonburg posted a big third inning to take a 4-3 lead in Tuesday's league championship round, Cranberry manager Larry Stelitano had confidence his team could rise to the occasion once again.
Cranberry scored a combined five runs on six hits in the third and fourth innings in a 9-7 victory at Kelly Automotive Park.
“It doesn't feel like a playoff game until we're down,” said Stelitano. “We were 6-6 at one point this season and didn't lose again. Our bats came alive and we got hot at the right time.”
Cranberry tied the game in the bottom of the third frame when Luke Engel hit a one-out triple and scored on a wild pitch.
Knoch starting pitcher Brandon Kowalski then walked three straight batters, the last free pass issued to Alex Scalone that loaded the bases. Lance Cotton was brought on in relief, but allowed RBI-singles to Sammy Baic and Austin Eichenauer before getting out of the inning.
Read more in Thursday's Butler Eagle.
