SLIPPERY ROCK — Last year, West Sunbury made a run to the Butler County Area Baseball League championship round.

A number of players from that squad are bringing similar hopes to Slippery Rock this summer, Zack Thompson among them.

The pitcher was in dominant form Tuesday night, fanning 14 to lead Slippery Rock to a 4-2 victory over visiting East Butler.

Slippery Rock replaced West Sunbury when the latter was unable to field a full team at the start of the season in May.

“Fourteen strikeouts, that’s a pretty normal performance for Zack,” said Slippery Rock manager Craig Campbell. “This was his first complete game this summer, but he gets close to one every time. He throws hard and accurate and has had a phenomenal season.”

Thompson struck out the side in the first and second inning while helping Slippery Rock take an early advantage.

In the bottom of the first inning, he tallied the first of three straight singles, with Mason Mershimer and Shane Thompson following suit to give the hosts an early 1-0 lead against East Butler starter Payton Folk.

Ryan Jewart came up with a clutch two-out single that drove home Colin McCune and AJ McElravy in the second for a 3-0 lead.

East Butler (3-10) answered with a tally in the third. Folk singled and scored on a double to deep left by Colton Collins. But Zack Thompson got back in his groove afterward, not allowing a hit over the next three innings and stranding the three base runners he allowed via walks in that span.

“I’ve always relied on my fastball and curveball,” Zack said. “I can be pretty effective, especially when my curveball is on and it was today.”

Folk settled down after Slippery Rock’s three runs in the first two innings. He blanked the hosts in the third, fourth and fifth innings before allowing a fourth run in the sixth when Shane Thompson doubled and scored on an error.

Folk finished with two strikeouts and a walk.

“Payton threw an excellent game,” said East Butler manager Earl Collins. “We just ran into a really good pitcher today and their defense took some good hits away from us.”

East Butler made things interesting in the top of the seventh as Cam Cygan led off with a single and ended up scoring on an error. But with a runner on base and two outs, Thompson struck out Dustin Bowers.

That West Sunbury team Zack Thompson played for last summer nearly won the league championship with a record well below .500. His Slippery Rock team is no Cinderella, however, sporting a 9-3 record after Tuesday’s victory.

“We’re hitting the ball,” he said. “We had a problem with some errors early in the season, but we’ve cleared that up and are playing well in the field.”

And the team’s pitching is not taking a back seat.

“Our other starters (on the mound) are Shane Thompson, Ian Balquist and Zach Caldwell,” said Campbell. “We’re a balanced team and everything is coming together.”

East Butler 001 000 1 — 2 5 3

Slippery Rock 120 001 x — 4 9 2

W: Zack Thompson 7 IP (14K, 5BB). L: Payton Folk 6 IP (2K, 1BB).

East Butler: Colton Collins 2B RBI, Alex Collins 2B, Cam Cygan 2-1B R

Slippery Rock: Shane Thompson 1B 2B R RBI, Brady Thompson 2-1B, AJ McElravy 2-1B R, Ryan Jewart 1B 2RBI

Thursday: Cranberry Township at East Butler

Friday: Slippery Rock at Cranberry Township (DH)