Seasons like the one Butler Township just concluded don't come along often.

Regardless of the sport.

In this case, it was the Butler County Area Baseball League.

Butler Township rolled through the regular season with a 13-3 record to earn the top seed in the BCABL double-elimination tournament. Two of its losses came to Freeport.

In a league of this nature — a summer baseball league where vacations come into play as well as player commitments to other teams — it can be hard for a team to maintain momentum all the way through.

The top seed can be knocked off in the tournament for the reasons above. Even Tyler Friel, Butler Township's coach, missed the league All-Star Game and first-round tournament game due to vacation.

This team never wavered.

Butler Township opened the BCABL tourney with a 9-0 win over Center Township. A 14-2 win over Kiski followed.

Nemesis Freeport was bested by a 12-5 margin before Kiski fell again, 10-1, in the title game.

That's dominance.

Saxonburg had a three-year run through this league recently, keeping the bulk of a high school state championship team together. That was impressive as well.

This Butler Township group was all Butler kids, most of whom never saw significant high school playing time until their senior year.

That team knocked off higher seeded Peters Township in the WPIAL playoffs. Then it was on to summer baseball.

Some of the players on the Butler Township squad didn't play varsity ball for Butler High School. They are friends from the same community who stuck together in the township baseball program for years.

A few of them walked off the field at Highfield Park for the last time in their lives carrying a championship trophy.

This was an incredibly consistent team from top to bottom.

In the championship game alone, seven players scored runs, seven players had hits and seven players had at least one RBI.

Kyle Weitzel, Nate Stutz, Colby Anderson were just a few of the one-year starters at Butler High who stayed with it and wound up with a league title.

Loyalty and friendship rewarded.

Congratulations.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle