Butler blanks Knoch in season opener
If this is a sign of things to come, Conner McTighe and his Butler teammates have plenty to look forward to.
McTighe had four hits in as many at bats, Colin Casteel and Noah Stefanik combined on a two-hit shutout, and the Golden Tornado banged out 11 hits. It all added up to a 10-0 baseball season-opening victory over Knoch in six innings Monday at Michelle Krill Memorial Field at historic Pullman Park.
“I haven’t totally embraced this team yet,” Butler coach Josh Forbes said. “I’m not sure what we’re gonna get from these guys this year. But this was a lot of fun tonight.
“There was plenty to be happy about with this game.”
Casteel gave up one-out, first-inning singles to Jacob Wagner and Brady Wozniak, but struck out the next two hitters to escape any damage. Casteel and Stefanik faced the minimum 15 hitters over the final five innings.
Knoch’s Cody Fike walked with one out in the second, but was thrown out trying to steal second. Sean Morgan doubled to deep center with one out in the fourth, but was doubled up on Logan Cypher’s line out to second base.
“We’re a very young team. We only have two seniors,” Knoch coach Bill Stoops said. “We won’t see pitching like this in our section games. Hampton’s got a good one, but not like this.”
Casteel got the win, striking out six in for innings. Stefanik fanned three in the final two frames. The pair combined to throw 45 of 70 pitches for strikes.
“They made my job easy back there,” catcher McTighe said. “Both of those guys had command of their pitches.”
McTighe had command of the Tornado offense.
His run-scoring double to left got Butler on the board in the first inning. He had an RBI single to right in the third, lined a single to left in the fifth and drilled a run-scoring single to right in the sixth. He scored three runs and collected three RBI on the night.
“I’m just trying to stay within myself at the plate, drive the ball gap to gap,” McTighe said. “Just play old-school baseball.
“These guys are more like my brothers than my teammates. We’ve got the team chemistry, for sure, and the skill to back it up. I think we’re gonna have a good year.”
Andrew Lucas had a pair of singles and RBI fior Butler. Liam McElroy contributed three RBI, hitting a sacrifice fly in the fifth and ending the game via the 10-run rule with a two-run bases-loaded single to left in the sixth.
“We played errorless baseball today, which was good to see,” Forbes said. “We drove the ball for bases-clearing doubles and triples, too. We manufactured some runs. I hope we get more of that.
“Our pitchers threw hard and threw strikes. They moved the ball in and out and were in complete control.”
Butler will have a scrimmage Tuesday before hosting Moon at Pullman Park on Wednesday afternoon. Knoch travels to Riverview on Tuesday.
“This is a team that will have to grow together,” Stoops said. “We have a long way to go.”
Knoch 000 000 — 0 2 3
Butler 102 133 — 10 11 0
WP: Colin Casteel 4 IP 6k,1bb. LP: Jacob Wagner 4IP 2k, 0BB.
Knoch (0-1): Jacob Wagner 1B, Brady Wozniak 1B
Butler (1-0): Lance Slater 3B RBI, Noah Collins 3B 3-R, Conner McTighe 2B 3-1B 3-RBI 3-R, James Desmond 1B 2-R, Liam McElroy 1B 3-RBI, Andrew Lucas 2-1B RBI, Alex Collins 2B
Tuesday: Knoch at Riverview
Wednesday: Moon at Butler
