Colin McKee raised his arms in the air and sprinted toward first.

Once his sharp single to right field in the bottom of the seventh inning hit the Pullman Park grass and David Tompkins touched foot to plate, the Butler baseball team had a walk-off 4-3 win over Cathedral Prep Wednesday night.

Butler scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh, the final two with two outs in the frame.

“Better late than never, guys,” Butler coach Todd Erdos said to his team after the win.

McKee also got the win in relief of Matt Baranchak. McKee worked the final three innings, giving up one run on two hits and striking out five.

“I was thinking just put the bat on the ball. See the ball, hit the ball,” McKee said, smiling. “I got a good pitch to hit and I drove it.”

Butler's final inning heroics were set up by a walk to Alex Ziegler, who then scored when lefty-hitting Mick Fennell slashed a triple down the left field line.

Fennell came around to score on a triple to right-center by Tompkins that tied the game at three with two outs.

“It's definitely a nice win,” said Erdos. “Cathedral Prep has a good ballclub over there. Every year they have a nice team. It's nice to come back with some huge hits when you have been down all game.”

Both starting pitchers were effective.

Baranchak started off wild, hitting Prep leadoff hitter Eli Flynn with his very first pitch and then walking the next batter. But he was able to work out of trouble in the first.

The right-hander wasn't so lucky in the second inning, giving up three singles that led to two runs.

Baranchak struck out eight, but walked four. He walked the bases loaded in the fourth inning, but also struck out the side.

“He battled out there,” Erdos said. “It wasn't one of his finest control games, but he kept us in the game and when he needed to, he got the strikeouts.”

Prep starter Jamie Lauria threw three pitches for strikes and kept the Butler hitters off balance.

He used a fastball to set up his curve and change.

McKee had first-hand knowledge of how good Lauria could be. The two teams spent the summer together on a traveling team.

“I know he was hurt and he is just coming back,” McKee said. “He was really mixing his pitches up today. He can hit 90 mph with that fastball when he's healthy. He's a really good pitcher.”

Butler was able to load the bases against Lauria in the second and third innings, but managed just one run, stranding six in those two frames.

“That's a credit to their pitchers. They pitched well,” Erdos said.

Mike Piotrowski relieved Lauria to start the bottom of the fifth inning and pitched well until the seventh.

A win like this further reinforced to McKee that this is a special group.

Most of the roster was on the Butler Township Little League team that won the state championship.

“This is a group of guys who have been together forever,” McKee said. “We played up through Little League and federation league together. We have 13 seniors on the team and we've been in every kind of baseball game imaginable. That's what makes us special.”

Cathedral Prep 020 010 0 — 3 5 2Butler 010 000 3 — 4 5 02 outs when winning run scoredW: Colin McKee 3IP (5K, 0BB).

L: Mike Piotrowski 2.2 IP (2K, 1BB).

Cathedral Prep (0-1): Eli Flynn 1B RBI, Scott Hess 1B RBI

Butler (3-0): Mick Fennell 3B, David Tompkins 3B RBI, McKee 2-1B GWRBI, Matt Baranchak 1B RBI

Friday: Butler at Mt. Lebanon