During the eighth inning Saturday night at Pullman Park, fireworks could be heard in the distant sky beyond the right-field fence.

They arrived a little bit late.

The Butler BlueSox provided plenty of fireworks of their own in the sixth and seventh innings, sending 27 men to the plate, collecting 18 runs, 17 hits and turning a 10-2 deficit into a 20-11 victory.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of anything like that,” BlueSox manager Anthony Rebyanski said. “But this is a special group. They believe in each other and they don’t quit on anything.”

The Saturday night rally set the stage for a weekend sweep of Lorain County. James Newman Jr. tossed a two-hit shutout Sunday night to lead the BlueSox to a 10-0 victory. Butler is off to a 5-1 start in the second half of the Prospect League season.

The BlueSox scored 11 runs in the sixth inning Saturday to erase an eight-run deficit. That frame included:

• Ten of Butler’s first 11 batters reaching base and scoring.

• Kyle Petty and George Roberts hitting back-to-back home runs.

• Elliott Caldwell hitting a grand slam, the first at Pullman Park in BlueSox history. Caldwell hit a grand slam on the road earlier this year.

• Butler hit three balls over the fence in the frame, the first time any team has done that at Pullman Park in years.

“I remember a high school game, being on a team that did something like this,” Petty said. “But, no doubt, it’s rare. When I hit my home run and George followed with his, you could feel the momentum shift.

“We hit a few bloops that fell in. The breaks started going our way.”

Caldwell walked to begin the inning and Petty homered to right, his sixth round-tripper of the year. Roberts also homered to right and Lorain starting pitcher Michael Burke was lifted.

The Ironmen wound up using four more pitchers over the next two innings. Caldwell’s grand slam came on a 3-2 pitch and deflected off the light pole beyond the fence in right-center.

Caldwell continues to lead the Prospect League with a .420 batting average. He and Petty combined to go 9-for-11 with 11 RBIs and eight runs scored Saturday. Petty added a pair of triples and four more RBIs Sunday, giving him 37 for the year.

“I had a bad year in college (at Winthrop), hitting about .217 in 46 at-bats,” Caldwell said. “I’ve always known I could hit, though. I hit .478 my junior year in high school.

“This entire team can hit, though. This was all about everybody. It makes it fun because you never feel like you’re out of a game, but this was crazy.”

Petty’s two-run single and Matt Albaugh’s two-run double highlighted a seven-run BlueSox seventh inning. Butler sent 15 batters to the plate in the sixth, 12 more in the seventh.

The hitting explosion made everyone forget about starting pitcher Joey Hoelzel’s rough night. He threw 88 pitches, walked four and surrendered seven runs in 3 1-3 innings pitched.

Eric Dorsch, the third of five BlueSox hurlers, got the win in relief.

“Joey had trouble with command tonight, but that’s OK. He’ll bounce back and we’ll keep working with him in the bullpen,” Rebyanski said.

Newman gave the BlueSox staff an additional day of rest heading into the All-Star break. He struck out six and allowed only a pair of harmless singles Sunday.

A four-run third inning put the game out of reach early.

Saturday

Lorain County 031 330 100— 11 14 1

Butler BlueSox 101 00(11) 70x — 20 22 1

W: Eric Dorsch 1.1IP (1K, 1BB). L: Dan Poskocil .1IP (0K, 0W)

Lorain County: Sam Alvis 2B 3B 1B 4-RBI 2-R, Blake Bellman 3B 1B 3-RBI, Cody Koch 2-1B 2B RBI, Nolan Neuschaefer 1B, John Navarro 2-1B RBI 2-R, Ryan Wonders 2B 1B 2-R, Jake Neuschaefer 2B 2-RBI 2-R

BlueSox: Brendan Costantino 2-R, Elliott Caldwell HR 3-1B 6-RBI 5-R, Kyle Petty HR 4-1B 5-RBI 3-R, George Roberts HR 2B 1B 2-RBI 2-R, Matt Albaugh 2B 2-1B 3-RBI 3-R, Jason Radwan 3B 2B 2-RBI, Alex Miklos 1B RBI, Justin Brozick 2B 2-1B 2-R, Gavin Meyer 2B RBI 2-R

Sunday

Lorain County 000 000 000 — 0 2 1

Butler BlueSox 104 110 30x — 10 9 0

W: James Newman Jr. 9IP (6K, 2BB). L: Tyler Plys 3.1IP (1K, 5BB).

Lorain County (1-5): Cody Koch 1B,. Michael Burke 1B

BlueSox (5-1): Brendan Costantino 1B 2-R, Elliott Caldwell 2-R, Kyle Petty 2-3B 4-RBI 2-R, George Roberts 1B 2-RBI, Jason Radwan 2-1B 2-R, Alex Miklos 2B RBI, Justin Brozick RBI, Gavin Meyer 3B 1B RBI

Friday: BlueSox at Slippery Rock