BUTLER TWP - It was open audition afternoon for the Butler and North Allegheny High School baseball teams.

The Golden Tornado used three pitchers and got a nifty bit of relief work from sophomore left-hander Dallas O'Donnell. Meanwhile, North Allegheny sent 18 different batters to the plate - with mixed results.

When the merry-go-round of players ended almost three hours after the first pitch, North Allegheny emerged with an 11-6 win at Highfield Park on a cold and windy Monday afternoon.

"I was happy to get them in the game," said Tigers' coach Tim Banner of his deep, seemingly bottomless bench. "But they need to play better, too. I don't put them in just to put them in. I expect them to play well."

North Allegheny (14-2 overall, 9-1 in the section) was afforded the opportunity to use so many players by opening up a 10-0 lead after three innings.

The Tigers battered Butler starter Kevin Krause, chasing the right-hander after scoring six runs, all earned, on seven hits in the first two innings.

NA rudely greeted left-handed reliever Trevor Dunkle in the third inning, scoring four more runs on four hits.

"They jumped out to a big lead," said Butler coach Ron Zawrotuk. "It was too much for us to catch up. That's a hard pill to swallow."

Butler (1-12, 1-9) almost did catch up thanks to the relief work of O'Donnell, who gave up just one run on one hit in the final three innings, and the cold NA bats that went silent after making so much noise early.

That drew the ire of Banner.

O'Donnell stuck out four and walked just one batter.

"He kept us off-balance," Banner said. "I think we were overanxious."

Butler had six hits, but they all came from two batters.

Steve Scott went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a single and Adam Miller went 3-for-3 with a double, two singles and a RBI.

North Allegheny starter Josh Hungerman improved to 8-0 this season, cruising through five innings. He struck out three and walked just one.

But Butler was able to get to NA relief pitcher Marek Lapinski, taking advantage of four walks, several wild pitches and passed balls to score five runs in the final two innings.

"We were in a position to put them away several times, but we weren't able to do it today," Banner said.

Backup shortstop Jon Kramer stole a few runs from Butler with a pair of stellar defensive plays in the seventh inning.

He took a hit away from Butler designated hitter Jim McCaslin with the bases loaded when he ranged to his left and snared a bounding ball hit up the middle. He recovered in time to scamper to the bag to get a force out at second.

Later in the inning, he knocked down a hard-hit ball by Anthony Pinto, recovered, and fired to first for an out.

"If Jim's ball goes through, we score more than one run," Zawrotuk said. "So, you can say it was a matter of inches."

Butler, which has four more games scheduled for this week, will open up auditions for next season, particularly on the mound.

Zawrotuk plans on using a slew of arms, evaluating each one.

"We're going to see who can throw," Zawrotuk said. "If we have to pick up a JV boy, we will."

North Allegheny 154 001 0 - 11 12 1

Butler 000 102 3 - 6 6 2

WP:

Josh Hungerman (5 IP) 3 strikeouts, 1 walks.

LP:

Kevin Krause (2 IP) 1 strikeout, 4 walks

North Allegheny (14-2, 9-1):

Blake Jurena 2-2B; Tim Merollilo 2-1B, 2B, 3-RBI; Brian Roberts 1B, RBI; Harry Austin 1B; Hungerman 1B, 2-RBI; Luke O'Neil 1B; Evan Mulzet 2-1B; Dave Bergstrom 1B

Butler (1-12, 1-9):

Adam Miller 2-1B, 2B; Steve Scott 1B, 2-2B, RBI

Today:

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