Butler Township closes in on BCABL title
EAST BUTLER — Their uniforms were old-school. There was nothing new about their results, either.
Wearing Meridian uniforms that had been dormant for eight years, Butler Township rolled to its 10th straight victory Tuesday night, defeating Seneca Valley, 9-3, in Game 1 of the BCABL Championship Series at Speed-O Field.
Game 2 of the best-of-three series is Thursday night at Cranberry Township’s Graham Park.
“We got a lot of production from the bottom part of the order tonight,” Butler Township manager Tyler Friel said. “When you get hitting like that in a playoff game, that’s obviously a good thing.
“I’ve had these Meridian uniforms tucked away for a long time now. I thought it’d be fun to break them out and wear them tonight. Nobody’s worn them for a number of years.”
Butler Township (10-1) received two singles from No. 7 hitter Kyle Yost while No. 8 hitter Jonah Bartholic went 3-for-3 with a double, two singles and a pair of RBI. Butler Township had 13 hits on the night in defeating Seneca Valley (9-8) for the fifth straight time this season.
“They’ve been the best team in the league all season and tonight, they showed why,” Seneca Valley manager Matt Baic said.
Seneca Valley scored first when Ben Blucher delivered a two-out RBI single to center in the second inning. Butler Township answered in the bottom of the frame with consecutive two-out singles from James Desmond, Yost and Bartholic.
Karter Weitsel gave BT the lead it never lost with a two-run single in the third. In the top of that inning, Seneca Valley loaded the bases with one out, but failed to score. Winning pitcher Desmond struck out Patrick O’Toole and got Aidan Treu to ground into a force play.
“That was a key part of the game, I thought,” Baic said. “When you’re playing a team that can score runs like they can, you have to take advantage of your opportunities. We didn’t do that.”
Desmond threw 98 pitches in five innings, striking out seven. Mac Schnur tossed two scoreless innings to close out the win.
“James threw a gutsy game,” Friel said. “He pitched out of trouble when he had to and he contributed offensively.”
Desmond had a double and two singles in three at-bats.
Butler Township broke the game open with a four-spot in the fourth. Ethan Trettel delivered a two-run double, Lance Slater a run-scoring triple and Braden Marcellus a RBI double.
Hitting in the leadoff spot, Trettel scored three runs and drove in three. He drilled a towering home run to left in the sixth inning, his first round-tripper of the year.
Trettel has been working out early mornings with the Slippery Rock University football team. He made the squad a as a walk-on wide receiver and will be reporting for summer training camp next month.
“It hasn’t been bad,” Trettel said of working out for football while playing baseball. “I’ve been playing baseball with these guys my entire life. This is our last year playing together and we’re having fun with it.
“We step into the batter’s box with the belief no one can get us out. That’s been our attitude all season.”
Colton Firster led Seneca Valley with three singles and an RBI.
Seneca Valley 010 020 0 — 3 8 1
Butler Township 012 411 x — 9 13 1
WP: James Desmond 5IP (7so, 3bb). LP: Patrick O’Toole 4IP (2so, 2bb).
Seneca Valley (9-8): Calen Wilkerson 1B, Colton Firster 3-1B RBI, Patrick O’Toole 2-1B, Ben Blucher 1B RBI, Seth Widenhofer 1B
Butler Township (10-1): Ethan Trettel 2B HR 3-RBI 3-R, Lance Slater 3B RBI, Braden Marcellus 2B RBI, Karter Weitsel 1B 2-RBI, James Desmond 2-1B 2B, Kyle Yost 2-1B, Jonan Bartholic 2-1B 2B 2-RBI
Thursday: Game 2, Butler Township vs. Seneca Valley, Graham Park, 6:15 p.m.
