BUTLER TWP — The top two teams in the Butler County Area Baseball League standings spent a rough evening on the diamond Thursday at Butler High School's field.

In a game against Butler Township, erratic pitching late in the game from Cranberry Township allowed the hosts to score five runs on just one hit.

But Butler's mistakes were even more pronounced. Ten errors contributed to Cranberry's 9-5 win in the first game of a doubleheader.

Both teams entered the night with a record of 4-1.

“We've never been that poor in the field,” said Butler coach Tyler Friel. “Just a lot of mental mistakes. You make 10-plus errors, you're not winning any baseball games.”

The game was scoreless in the top of the second inning when miscues began to bite Butler.

Seve Balog began the frame with a single and stole second base. With one out, Zach Snyder reached on a fielding error and Balog scored for a 1-0 lead against Butler starter Josh Bonetti.

An unearned run was charged to Cranberry's Trevor Botta, but he benefitted from Butler's three errors in the top of the third. Three runs were plated with the only hit being a double from Sam Costanza.

Botta surrendered Butler's lone hit in the game, an RBI-double by Jerome Oliver that scored Kyle Weitzel in the fourth, cutting Cranberry's lead to 4-2.

Botta got out of the inning, but did not return to the mound in the fifth. He was credited with the win after striking out two and walking one.

“He was feeling a bit of arm stress, so we pulled him,” said Cranberry coach Larry Stelitano. “He shut these guys down the last time we played them (an 8-7 Cranberry win June 1). Butler scored a lot of runs late in that game.

“Trevor throws strikes and that is what makes him effective.”

Friel had three pitchers work two innings each — Bonetti, Oliver and Kevin King. Ryan Hepfl pitched the seventh, when two more errors contributed to a three-run inning for Cranberry.

“We have some 20-year old pitchers and they haven't been stretching their arms out over the spring like the high school guys have,” said Friel. “Austin Rodgers and Colin Gallagher are our two anchors, but other than that, we're trying to build up some arms.”

A walk and two hit-batsmen by Cranberry's Snyder, along with an error, sparked Butler's attempt at a rally in the seventh. Nick Matthews was called upon to end the threat and did so.

Butler sustained a loss other than on the scoreboard. In the bottom of the sixth inning, outfielder Kyle Weitzel hit a hard liner to left for an apparent base hit, but he never made it out of the batter's box. A right knee injury had him flat on his back while the ball was thrown to first base to complete the force out.

“It started to bruise and he was taken to the hospital,” said Friel. “That's all we know.”

Stelitano is hoping for a better offensive showing from last year, when his team bowed from the league's postseason tournament in the loser's bracket final.

“We weren't always strong at the plate last year,” he said. “We have the ability to hit the ball well, but we're not as consistent as we need to be.”

Cranberry Twp. 013 011 3 — 9 6 2 Butler Twp. 010 100 3 — 5 1 10 W: Trevor Botta 4 IP (2K, 1BB). L: Jerome Oliver 2 IP (0K, 1BB). Cranberry Township: Seve Balog 2-1B R RBI, Sam Costanza 1B 2B R Butler Township: Jerome Oliver 2B RBI