SHALER TWP — Butler threatened in the top of the first.

By the end of the inning, North Allegheny seized control of the game and advanced to the WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship game with a 10-0, six-inning victory over the Golden Tornado Tuesday at Shaler's Matulevic Field.

“They came out aggressively, ready to go,” NA coach Andy Heck said of Butler. “Our pitcher got off to a slow start spotting his pitches and they took advantage.

“Fortunately, we were able to quickly take the early momentum away from them.”

With one out in the top of the first, David Leslie was hit by a pitch and Butler's Cooper Baxter singled sharply to right. Tigers catcher Aaron Posey picked Leslie off second and NA right-hander Brady Palmer struck out Colin Patterson to end the inning.

Palmer threw 77 pitches over six innings, allowing only three singles while striking out nine and walking one.

“Brady and Kyle Demi are the two horses we're riding through the playoffs with right now,” Heck said.

North Allegheny (19-3) put together four singles, stole three bases and took advantage of two Butler errors to score four runs in the bottom of the first.

The Tigers produced 15 hits on the day, with everyone but their No. 9 batter hitting safely in the contest.

“They're a good hitting team, but it's easier to hit when runners are getting an extra 90 feet and getting into scoring position,” Golden Tornado coach Josh Forbes said. “We allowed too much of that today.

“But, sometimes you just run into a very good team. North Allegheny certainly has that.”

The Tigers have won nine of their last 10 games and outscored Butler 29-1 in beating the Tornado three times this season.

Cooper Baxter started on the mound for Butler and was followed to the hill by James Desmond and Mac Schnur. Each had trouble slowing down the Tigers.

“I liked the way we stayed disciplined at the plate, even when the count wasn't in our favor today,” Heck said. “We're playing pretty good baseball right now.”

The top-seeded Tigers won both of their first two playoff games via the 10-run rule.

Butler put runners in scoring position in the third and fourth innings, but could not break the shutout. Conner McTighe beat out an infield single with one out in the third, advanced to second on a wild pitch, but was stranded.

With one out in the fourth, Patterson walked and Brady Gavula singled to center. Palmer worked out of trouble there as well.

Forbes removed Baxter from the mound after the latter allowed a leadoff double in the third. He had thrown only 44 pitches, 32 of those in the first frame.

“Leave no stone unturned,” Forbes said. “Cooper may have worked out of it and kept the score at 4-0, maybe he wouldn't have. I just felt like we needed to give their hitters a different look there.

“You roll the dice anytime you make a decision.”

Designated hitter Joe Monesiotis led North Allegheny offensively with a double, three singles and four RBI. It was his run-scoring single with one out in the sixth that capped a two-run rally and invoked the 10-run rule.

Spencer Barnett homered down the right field line to lead off the fifth inning for the Tigers. Danny Gallon had a double, two singles and scored three runs.

Leslie and Mattix Clement were the only seniors in Butler's starting lineup Tuesday. Logan Koegler and Clay Collins are other seniors on the team. The Tornado ended the season with a 14-7 record.

“We had a young team and I'm excited about where we're at going into next season,” Forbes said. “Hopefully, we can get back to this game next year and have a different result.

“North Allegheny's having a big year. All we can do is remember this next year and do something about it.”

Butler 000 000 x — 0 3 2

N. Allegheny 401 032 x — 10 15 0

W: Brady Palmer 6IP (9K, 1BB). L: Cooper Baxter 2IP (1K, 1BB)

Butler (14-7): Cooper Baxter 1B, Brady Gavula 1B, Conner McTighe 1B

North Allegheny (19-3): Ethan Gavlik 2-1B, Logan Andreyko 2B, Cole Young 1B, Danny Gallon 2B 2-1B RBI 3-R, Spencer Barnett HR 2-R, Joe Monesiotis 2B 3-1B 4-RBI, Aaron Posey 2B, David Posey 2-1B RBI