BUTLER TWP — The Seneca Valley baseball team calls hard-hit balls “seeds.”

The Raiders planted a lot of seeds at Butler High School's field Thursday night, enough seeds to populate a small farm.

Seneca Valley hit just about every ball hard, rapping out nine hits — seven for extra bases — on the way to a 10-3 win over Butler.

“We had a lot of what we call 'seeds' today,” said Seneca Valley coach Eric Semega. “We try to get seven or eight in a game because that usually means we'll be in it. I think we had seven or eight today.”

Even the outs were loud. Leadoff hitter Jon Dorogy hit two pitches on the screws that resulted in line-drive outs to center field before driving another one past Butler centerfielder Mike Hepler for a two-run double in the sixth inning that opened up the game for the Raiders.

“He had the hat trick tonight,” Semega said of Dorogy. “When you get a hat trick of seeds you get rewarded in practice. That's their personal goal.”

Drew Spangler had a seed in the second inning, launching a pitch from his cousin, Butler pitcher Zach Spangler, over the center field wall for a two-run homer and a 2-0 Raiders' lead.

Butler, though, answered in the bottom of inning with a two-run shot off the bat of Cory Wheeler that curled around the right field foul pole.

It remained 2-2 into the fourth inning when Seneca Valley broke through for four runs off of Drew Spangler. Three consecutive doubles by Gianpaul Gonzalez, Jason Martin and Zach Spangler got the rally going.

The wind made life difficult on the outfielders. So did the lights. It made every fly ball an adventure.

Seneca Valley hasn't had much luck at Butler's high school field. This was the first varsity game played on it this season. The Raiders lost to the Golden Tornado two years ago on this field, committing five errors.

“We're not a big fan of this place,” Semega said. “Their players struggled with the outfield lights and the wind was a big issue today. It was tough out there for the outfielders. We were able to battle through some balls that could have dropped on us as well.”

The offensive support was more than enough for Seneca Valley starting pitcher Connor Coward, who used a sharp-breaking curve to freeze Butler hitters. Coward struck out six in six innings of work.

“He threw well,” Semega said. “He was fooling a lot of people today.”

Seneca Valley (7-2, 5-0) tacked on four more runs in the top of the sixth inning off Jesse Savisky for a 10-2 lead. Only two of those runs were earned, however.

After an 0-2 start, Seneca Valley has now won seven straight games, including five in a row in the section.

“Early in the year, we're still trying to figure things out, give everyone time,” Semega said. “You try to get a win, but you're looking at everyone. In section play, you are really going at it. We have a lot of momentum right now.”

Butler does not.

The Golden Tornado (1-10, 0-5) are mired in a 10-game losing streak.

“It's frustrating because we're getting to the point now where we're seeing the same mistakes being made over and over again,” said Butler coach Todd Erdos. “It's frustrating as players and as a team. We're trying to mentally stay focused through the game and we keep digging ourselves a hole. It's always one or two innings a game when we self destruct.”

Seneca Valley 020 404 0 — 10 9 1

Butler 020 001 0 — 3 8 3

W: Connor Coward 6IP (6K, 2BB). L: Drew Spangler 5IP (2K, 3BB).

Seneca Valley (7-2, 5-0): Jon Dorogy 2B 2-RBI, Brad Gresock RBI, Carson Kessler 2-1B, Gianpaul Gonzalez 2B, Jason Martin 2-2B RBI, Zach Spangler HR 2B 3-RBI, Coward 2B, Zach Bredl RBI

Butler (1-10, 0-5): Adam Schaffner 2B 1B, Cory Wheeler HR 2B 2-RBI, Kyle Campbell 2B, Spangler 2-1B, T.J. Rice 1B

Today: Butler at Latrobe

Monday: Hampton at Seneca Valley