Wins and losses don’t always tell the whole story.

When readers see the Butler baseball team has lost 14 straight games, some might picture a clueless, careless squad without much talent getting run out of the ballpark.

They’re wrong.

I’ve covered Butler three times this season and not once has the Golden Tornado fit that description.

A terrible team reveals itself quickly. I should know, I’ve been on a few in my day.

The games I’ve witnessed — Pine-Richland, Norwin and Tuesday night’s 2-0 loss to North Allegheny — were against schools heading toward the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs.

None of those contests had the feel of a district contender mopping the floor with a team destined for the basement.

Butler’s brand of baseball doesn’t match a club with a 1-14 ledger. Both coaches in Tuesday’s affair said as much.

“We know that they’ve improved as the season has gone along,” said NA coach Andy Maddix. “They’re a better team than their record.”

“We’re definitely better than our record shows,” said Butler coach Todd Erdos. “Unfortunately, we can’t change what it speaks.”

A formidable schedule hasn’t helped.

After opening the season with a 10-5 win over Ellwood City, Butler endured its most dismal performance of the season in a 14-1 loss to Knoch, which is heading to the playoffs in Class AAA.

After that, Butler’s non-section schedule has been littered with Quad-A powers:

• Bethel Park, 14-2 overall, tied for first place in Section 5.

• Erie McDowell, 10-5 overall, second in its region and the top team among Quad-A schools in District 10.

• Pine-Richland, 13-2 overall, tied for first in Section 4.

• Hempfield, 11-3 overall, tied for first in Section 2.

• Norwin, 8-5 overall, half-game back of Hempfield for first in Section 2.

Those squads have a combined winning percentage of .767 and Butler was within five runs of each of them. The Tornado also dropped a pair of one-run games to Fox Chapel, which would make the playoffs if they started today.

In total during the 14-game slide, opponents are a combined 111-51. It can’t get much tougher.

Entering the season, the Tornado lost 13 seniors and returned just two players — Cory Wheeler and Adam Schaffner — listed on last year’s varsity roster.

“Our guys have definitely improved from game to game and that’s all we look for,” said Erdos. “Come out, compete and give ourselves a chance to win and the last three games, we’ve had the tying run or the winning run at the plate.

“We can’t ask for much more than that.”

Butler celebrates Senior Night today at Pullman Park against North Hills at 7 p.m.

It’s been a difficult season, but the perseverance is worth some applause.