WPIAL baseball: Stagnant offense, costly errors doom Butler in extra-inning 6A first round loss to Norwin
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Norwin defeated Butler 5-4 in nine innings in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Norwin defeated Butler 5-4 in nine innings in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Norwin defeated Butler 5-4 in nine innings in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Norwin defeated Butler 5-4 in nine innings in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Norwin defeated Butler 5-4 in nine innings in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Norwin defeated Butler 5-4 in nine innings in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Norwin defeated Butler 5-4 in nine innings in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Norwin defeated Butler 5-4 in nine innings in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Norwin defeated Butler 5-4 in nine innings in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Norwin defeated Butler 5-4 in nine innings in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Norwin defeated Butler 5-4 in nine innings in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Norwin defeated Butler 5-4 in nine innings in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Norwin defeated Butler 5-4 in nine innings in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Norwin defeated Butler 5-4 in nine innings in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Norwin defeated Butler 5-4 in nine innings in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Norwin defeated Butler 5-4 in nine innings in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Norwin defeated Butler 5-4 in nine innings in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Norwin defeated Butler 5-4 in nine innings in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Tanner Pry (25) and Mavrik Clement embrace after losing to Norwin 5-4 in nine innings in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Jett Cuffman (27) celebrates after Nolan Stefaniak hit a home run for Butler in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Tanner Pry (25) catches the ball in the 4th inning in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Nolan Stefaniak (14) rounds the bases after hitting a homerun in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Preston Richter (15) and Trent Best (19) celebrate after remaining in the lead in the 4th inning in a WPIAL Class 6A first-round baseball game on Monday, May 19, 2025, at North Allegheny High School. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
WEXFORD — Aaron Lunn didn’t bother watching Trevor Vitsas run through first base.
The senior Butler relief pitcher didn’t need to. He threw his hands to his head, knowing what his overthrow meant as soon as it sailed over his target and to the fence behind.
Norwin’s Jack Sincak made it home from third base as a result of the ninth-inning throwing error, sealing a 5-4 Golden Tornado WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal playoff loss at North Allegheny High School.
The defeat wasn’t Lunn’s doing alone, it was a combination of a Golden Tornado (11-9) offense that had gone stagnant and a persistent Knights bunch.
Butler owned leads of 2-0, 3-2 and 4-2 before Norwin pulled even in the bottom seventh.
“The longer a team hangs around, the more chances they’ve got when they’re down, and they’re fighting and they’re frisky,” Butler coach Josh Forbes said.
After watching the Golden Tornado tack on one run in each of the initial four frames, Norwin (13-8) yanked its starter and inserted junior Matthew O’Neil, who struck out six and allowed three inconsequential base knocks.
“I think they were starting to get onto Ethen (Culberson), my starter,” Knights coach Craig Spisak said. “We didn’t play great defense behind him by any stretch. We gave some free stuff to them. But they were starting to square him up, and it was just time to get a change of pace.”
Butler put runners in scoring position just once more the rest of the way. Senior Owen Boring flew out to center field with Trent Best and Jacob Szebalskie, respectively, on second and third in the top seventh, washing away the Golden Tornado’s best chance to strike the rest of the way.
The Tornado stranded nine runners on base.
“A little different arm action, so we had to change our approaches, but we didn’t really change our approaches all that much,” Forbes said of O’Neil. “We did hit some hard baseballs, we had action on. We just couldn’t get a timely hit late in the game.”
Butler’s Nolan Stefaniak went 6.1 innings, throwing 105 pitches and striking out eight. He fanned Brayden Wardinski with a runner on second, momentarily preserving a 4-3 advantage.
Stefaniak and Lunn allowed just four hits.
Stefaniak also hit a home run. However, a pair of his errant pitch-overs did their part in keeping the door open for Norwin to even matters and subsequently walk it off.
“Our whole goal was to try to make (Stefaniak) work,” Spisak said. “And, I think, to some degree, we accomplished that. But he made it hard for us.”
Norwin advances to Tuesday’s semifinals and awaits the winner of Hempfield Area at North Allegheny.
Butler 111 100 000 — 4 12 3
Norwin 020 001 101 — 5 4 1
WP: Matthew O’Neil 5.1IP (6K, 2BB); LP: Aaron Lunn 2IP
Butler (11-9): Mavrik Clement 2-1B, Boden Lenyk 3B 1B RBI R, Trent Best 1B, Nolan Stefaniak HR 1B 2RBI R, Nash Cuffman 1B, Jacob Szebalskie 1B, Karsten Lenyk 1B, Regan Peth 2-1B 2R
Norwin (13-8): Nathan Silberman 1B R, Tristyn Tavares 3B 1B RBI R, Brayden Wardinski R, Jake Sincak 2R, Ryan Helphenstine 2B 2RBI, Matthew O’Neil 1B
