Butler baseball drops another to NA
BUTLER TWP — Butler baseball coach Josh Forbes knew losing games on consecutive days to North Allegheny put a serious dent in the Golden Tornado’s chances to challenge for the Section 1-6A crown.
But what was more disappointing was how the two games went. Butler fell behind in the first inning Tuesday evening at Butler High School and were handed an 11-0, five inning loss. The Golden Tornado (9-5, 5-3) were outscored 19-1 in their two losses to North Allegheny.
“We didn’t come out and compete like we should have,” Forbes said. “We let the game speed up on us a lot. At the end of the day, we made a lot of young, mental mistakes. That’s what it is when you have little to no experience on your varsity roster.”
Butler, which has already qualified for the WPIAL playoffs, gave up two runs in the top of the first. Logan Andreyko opened with a single, Ethan Gavlik walked and then Duke commit Cole Young drove Andreyko in with a single.
Gavlik scored when Danny Gallon hit into a double play to follow Young. Young’s single was a hard hit ball that took a bad bounce in the infield before shooting into the outfield.
“There’s definitely things throughout the course of the baseball game that didn’t go our way,” Forbes said. “We could make it go our way and be in the position to make it go our way.”
Butler couldn’t take advantage of early wildness by North Allegheny starting pitcher Kyle Demi. Demi walked Mattix Clement and David Leslie to start the game.
Clement would be picked off at first base and while Leslie would reach second base on a fielder’s choice, the Golden Tornado couldn’t find a way to bring him home.
Demi pitched all five innings, allowed two hits and struck out two. Both of Butler’s hits were singles by Logan Koegler.
North Allegheny coach Andy Heck said Demi had been away from the team for a few days after coming into coach with a classmate who had COVID-19.
“He hasn’t been able to be with us for the last four days,” Heck said. “We knew he was going to be a little rusty. That’s how he pitches, too. He’s effectively wild.”
Cooper Baxter, who pitched three innings and issued four walks, took the loss on the mound for the Golden Tornado.
North Allegheny (12-2, 7-1) extended its lead with a big third inning. The Tigers batted around and benefited from drawing three walks, having a batter hit by pitch and Butler making two throwing errors.
Young drove in a run with a triple, while Aaron Galaska had a two-run single for North Allegheny. Spencer Barnett also drew a bases-loaded walk.
The Tigers stretched their lead to 10-0 on another two-run single, this time by Joe Manesiotis in the fourth inning.
North Allegheny 206 21x x — 11 7 1
Butler 000 00x x — 0 2 3
W: Kyle Demi 5IP (2K, 3BB). L: Cooper Baxter 3IP (1K, 4BB)
North Allegheny: Cole Young 1B 3B 2-RBI, Aaron Galaska 1B 2-RBI, Joe Manesiotis 1B 2-RBI
Butler: Logan Koegler 2-1B
Friday: Butler at Franklin Regional
