Butler softball wins title
BUTLER TWP — Consider this merger a success.
The Butler fastpitch girls softball program usually has two teams at the under-10 level, so more girls can get on the field at that age.
“We couldn't do that this year because with the COVID situation, some girls decided not to play this summer,” assistant coach Jeannette Brown said. “We decided to consolidate and put one team on the field.”
Brown, John Mills, Mike Garbinski and Colleen Coleman split up to coach the two teams in the past. This year they've combined forces.
And Butler's under-10 team wound up winning the nine-team Alle-Kiski League, posting a 12-2 record overall.
It marked Butler's first championship at that level in the league for a number of years.
“We've never stacked one team with our best players,” Garbinski said. “We don't believe in doing that. We always evenly distribute our players over two teams.”
Joining Butler in the league are Armstrong, West Shamokin, Freeport, Valley and two teams each from Saxonburg and Burrell.
Butler finished second in the regular season, then defeated Saxonburg #1 5-4 in the semifinals and Armstrong 9-3 in the championship game.
Armstrong was 10-1-1 in the regular season.
“We scored five runs after two were out in the top of the sixth to pull away,” Garbinski said. “Our bats came alive over the last four or five games of the season.
“We had good pitching and our infielders handled ground balls and threw people out. That's how you win at this level.”
Alicia Coleman and Mikayla Crouch were Butler's top pitchers. Alicia struck out eight in four innings of the title game. Kaylin Garbinski hit an inside-the-park home run in the second inning to get Butler on the board.
Alicia averaged more than a strikeout per inning on the season.
“One girl can't pitch more than four innings in a game,” Coach Mills said. “That's a league rule. Mikayla and Brooklyn Mills pitched well for us, too.
“Our defense carried us all year before the bars came around.”
Kaylin was the catcher while Brooklyn played first or second base when she wasn't pitching. Mikayla played shortstop when she wasn't on the mound.
Sydney Karenbauer played first and second base, Khloe Brown third base. Alexis Myers was an outfielder and backup catcher. Other outfielders were Addison Geibel, Annalise Delso, Chloe Michel and Isabella Curzi.
“These girls all love the game and they played hard for each other,” Mills said.
Garbinski agreed.
“I was impressed by how quickly they picked up on things,” he said. “They're enthused about softball to begin with and winning a championship only fuels that.
“I'm excited to see what the future holds for these kids in the Butler system. Butler softball definitely has some good players coming in this group.”
