The ringing of tight-bound leather on metal was a melody that Butler was pleased to hear Monday night at Michelle Krill Memorial Field at Historic Pullman Park.

Following a three-game WPIAL Section 1-6A baseball sweep at the hands of rival Seneca Valley, the Golden Tornado defeated North Catholic, 6-3, in non-conference action.

“Honestly, in that series, I didn’t feel like we were struggling or anything,” Butler catcher Conner McTighe said. “We were playing good baseball, it was that they just happened to out-play us on those days. I mean, we didn’t really sidetrack ourselves.

“Obviously, getting swept by Seneca ... it hurts a little bit. But coming back out today, we just had to stick to our approaches and get our jobs done. Just get the next guy up at the plate.”

Along with nine hits — a third of which went for extra bases — the Golden Tornado put the ball in play on all but four of their 18 outs in the contest.

“It’s nice to see balls driven in the outfield,” Butler coach Josh Forbes said. “Seeing some of those deep fly balls was promising.”

Against the Raiders, the Golden Tornado (10-8, 6-6) managed just two runs over 25 innings of play, then matched that total in the first inning against the Trojans (9-8, 8-2) alone. McTighe smoked a one-out offering down the left field line to plate Mac Schnur, who reached by way of a walk. McTighe’s courtesy runner, Boden Lenyk came home from third as Liam McElroy stole second two batters later.

“Our offense has kind of been our weak point all season,” McTighe said. “So anything we can do to kind of jump start it before playoffs, we’ll do. If it means we’re taking little flares in the holes ... hit-by-pitches, whatever else. Just to get ducks on the pond, that’s a big thing for us.

“We have a great staff, so if we score more than four runs, it’s going to be hard for other teams to put up five or six.”

North, which finished on top of WPIAL Section 4-4A this go-round, wasn’t going to fade away easily. The Trojans scored in the top halves of the fourth and fifth innings, but Butler promptly replied with both of their turns.

The Golden Tornado doubled its advantage in the bottom sixth as hits by Schnur and Madden Clement, and a walk by McElroy juiced the bases. Andrew Lucas pushed two across with a blooper to right field.

“We intentionally walked him (McElroy) to get away from the lefty and get the right-handed batter,” North coach Andy Przybylek said. “It’s baseball, and the kid (Lucas) put one down the line. We had our top of the order coming in in the last inning. We felt we were ready to win.

“Foul balls caught us. If that ball drops, I think we probably win the game.”

Przybylek was referring to a foul pop out with two on that forced the Trojans to their last chance. Tommy Koroly had an RBI base knock that cut the hosts’ lead to three earlier in the frame.

Both teams have already punched their tickets to the postseason. North will have its Senior Night against Armstrong at Pullman on Tuesday. Butler will be back in action at Upper St. Clair Wednesday.

“We’re just trying to play better baseball,” Forbes said. “Just seeing a couple wins could help the confidence, but we don’t really play for wins and losses. We just try to get better every single time we get out there, and whatever happens, happens.

“We have a team that’s absolutely capable of going the distance and winning this whole thing.”

North Catholic 000 110 1 — 3 6 2

Butler 200 112 x — 6 9 1

W: Kyle Casteel 5IP (4K, 3BB). L: David Thomas 4.2IP (3K, 1BB)

North Catholic: Ryan Shantz 1B, Tommy Schafale 2-2B 2R, Drew Doherty 1B, Tommy Koroly RBI R, Sean Dewey 1B RBI, Owen Beatrice 1B

Butler: Mac Schnur 1B R, Conner McTighe 2B 1B, Boden Lenyk 2R, Madden Clement 2B 1B R, Andrew Lucas 2-1B 2B 3RBI R, James Desmond 1B, Nolan Stefanik R

Tuesday: Armstrong at North Catholic

Wednesday: Butler at Upper St. Clair