Storm players in the dugout during the championship game against Apollo-Kiski Wildcats on August 5, 2018.

BUTLER TWP — The Butler Storm nearly found the perfect storm.

But the 12-under fast-pitch girls softball team dropped the championship game of the 2018 Butler Battle of the Bats Tournament, 5-3, to the Apollo-Kiski Wildcats Sunday afternoon at Butler High School.

The three-day, 20-team tournament — 10 in the 12-under and 10 in the 10-under division — was the first youth fast-pitch tournament hosted by Butler.

“That would have been a fairy-tale ending had we won it, for sure,” said Kris Paserba, president of the Butler Girls Fast-Pitch Association.

“But this was a great day, a great weekend for our program.”

Butler put together the tournament as a fund-raiser for its program. Other participating programs included Cranberry Township, Moniteau, Apollo-Kiski, Natrona Heights, Armstrong, Shaler, Hopewell, Connellsville and Moon.

Read the full story in the Butler Eagle.