Early Control
East Butler has bashed its way back to the championship.
Center Township made it far from easy, though.
Facing a nine-run deficit in the final inning, a Center Township rally brought the tying run to the plate before East Butler closed the door for an 11-7 victory in the loser's bracket final of the Legion baseball playoffs Thursday night at Pullman Park.
East Butler (19-4) won three straight elimination games — scoring at least 10 runs in each — for right to play Butler City (15-6) with the title at stake. Coming out of the loser's bracket, East Butler must beat Butler City twice to claim the crown. The teams square off at Highfield Park on Saturday at 6 p.m.
“Last year we won (the championship) and this year we're going back to it. I think that's pretty tough to do,” said East Butler manager Steve Armahizer. “I'm really proud of the boys so far this season, but we have two more games to finish off hopefully.”
Butler City, the No. 3 seed, knocked second-seeded East Butler into the loser's bracket with a 10-4 win July 11, but Armahizer believes his team is looking forward to a second chance.
“Absolutely,” he said. “We definitely want them again.”
East Butler earned the opportunity by building an 11-0 cushion through 3½ innings with four runs in the first, back-to-back three-run frames in the second and third, before tacking on one more in the fourth.
Tyler Brown finished 3-for-4 with a double and Tanner Gilland was 2-for-4 with a triple. Gilliland, Jake Stoner and Tyler Crawford drove in two runs apiece.
“I was glad to see we came out in the first inning and pounded the ball,” said Armahizer.
Meanwhile, Jordan Rodgers kept Center Township at bay with a strong performance on the mound. He hurled five innings, allowed two runs on six hits, struck out three and walked three.
“Jordan Rodgers pitched a heck of a game tonight,” said Armahizer. “He was hitting corners and he picked his spots. He was a smart pitcher tonight.”
Evan Barber took the loss for Center Township after giving up six runs — three earned — in one-plus inning. Joseph DiMartino came in and surrendered four runs 1 2-3 innings. Pat Byrd slowed the East Butler attack with 3 1-3 innings of one-run ball and Kyle Campbell pitched a scoreless seventh.
Despite trailing 11-2 with three outs left in the season, Center Township wouldn't go down without a fight.
CT sent 11 batters to the plate and tallied five runs in the final frame, but Stoner struck out Doug DeFrancis with the bases loaded to secure the victory.
DeFrancis and Mike Hepler led Center Township with two hits apiece. DiMartino was 1-for-2 with three walks.
Crawford, who relieved Rodgers in the sixth, was charged with three runs — two earned — in one-plus inning. Stoner gave up two runs — one earned — in the seventh before coming through with a clutch strikeout to send East Butler to the championship.
“I was a little nervous there at the end,” Armahizer admitted. “Stoner came in and was able to shut it down.
“It definitely takes pressure off when we get up early. We can't let our boys get lackadaisical on us and that's what happened,” he added. “We don't score runs late in the game and they come back and we have to scramble at the end. Luckily, we were able to get the three outs in the seventh inning to finish them off.”
Notes: East Butler's DJ Osche was hit by a pitch in the back of the neck and was attended to for several minutes. He left the game, but walked off the field under his own power. ... Center Township manager Doug Culbertson was unavailable for comment.
East Butler 433 100 0 — 11 11 2Center Township 000 110 5 — 7 11 2W: Jordan Rodgers 5 IP (3K, 3BB). L: Evan Barber 1 IP (0K, 0BB).East Butler (19-4): Dustin Kepple 1B, BB, 2-R, RBI; Tanner Gilliland 3B, 1B, 2-R, 2-RBI; Jake Stoner 2-1B, R, 2-RBI; Ryan McCrea BB, HBP; Tyler Crawford 2B, 2-BB, R, 2-RBI; Jordan Rodgers 1B, R, RBI; Tyler Brown 2B, 2-1B, R, RBI; Adam Harbison 2B, BB, R; DJ Osche 3-BB, HBP, 2-R, SBCenter Township (14-8): Adam Voelker 1B, HBP, R; Mike Hepler 2-1B, 2-RBI; Kyle Campbell 1B, 2-BB, R, SB; Max Bachman BB; Joseph DiMartino 1B, 3-BB, 2-R, RBI; Doug DeFrancis 2-1B, R, RBI; Dom DeAngelo 1B, BB; Wyatt Daugherty R, RBI; Pat Byrd 1B; Chris Fiorina 2-1B, R, RBISaturday: East Butler vs. Butler City, 6 p.m., at Highfield Park
