BUTLER TWP — The fabulous five.

Moniteau showed them off Tuesday in a runaway 17-3 girls softball win at Butler.

The first five batters in the Warriors' lineup — Taylor Schultz, Courtney Stewart, Abby Rottman, Emma Covert and Emily Staab — collected 15 hits in 21 at bats, along with 15 runs scored and nine RBI.

“That's why those five are up there,” Moniteau coach Bob Rottman said of his lineup.

Stewart, the No. 2 hitter in the lineup, had three singles, a double and scored three runs. She benefitted from the offensive numbers and produced some nice digits of her own in the pitching circle.

Stewart struck out 10 and scattered six hits in getting the win.

“I'm more of an east-west pitcher, moving the ball in and out,” Stewart said. “This game will do a lot for our confidence.

“A lot of us play club ball together, so the cohesion is there. Today, we put it together. The top part of our lineup was hitting and the bottom part did an effective job of turning the lineup over. It's a team thing.”

Rottman said Stewart's pitches have a lot of movement.

“She's very hard to square up on and hit the ball into gaps,” the coach said. “Hitters either roll the ball over or swing and miss. You can't ask for more than that.”

Covert had three RBI out of the No. 4 spot for Moniteau while Staab tallied four RBI hitting right behind her.

The Warriors broke the game open with a seven-run fourth inning, turning a 3-2 lead into a 10-2 advantage. Eight consecutive batters reached base at one point in the frame and Butler committed four errors in the inning.

The Golden Tornado had six errors on the day and misplayed a few other balls.

“I don't care who you're playing, you can't make as many errors as we did and expect to win,” Tornado coach Cait Baxter said. “We're a young team and we need to work on some things.

“Play a team like Moniteau — a great program with great success — you can't bring your 'B' game against an 'A' team.”

Baxter admitted a bad inning can snowball into a bad game.

“Snowball? We built a snowman out there,” she said.

Butler did have some positives. Kelsey Ogin struck out eight in the circle and Makenna Negley had a pair of doubles. Lauren Hesidenz had two singles.

“We're not going to focus on the negative,” Baxter said. “We have a game tomorrow and we're moving on.”

Moniteau had 16 hits as a team.

“We learned from Saturday,” Rottman said, referencing a 6-4 loss to Slippery Rock. “We have to go hard every inning, every at bat.

“I loved our aggressiveness today. We have to keep that up.”

Moniteau 102 725 x — 17 16 2

Butler 200 100 x — 3 6 6

W: Courtney Stewart 6IP (10K, 3BB). L: Kelsey Ogin 6IP (8K, 5BB).

Moniteau (1-1): Taylor Schultz 2-1B RBI 4-R, Courtney Stewart 2B 3-1B 3-R, Abby Rottman 2-1B RBI 3-R, Emma Covert 3-1B 3-RBI 3-R, Emily Staab 2B 3-1B 4-RBI 2-R, Grace Thurner 1B RBI

Butler (1-1): Lauren Hesidenz 2-1B RBI, Makenna Negley 2-2B RBI, Kaela Malis 2B, Savannah Downing 3B

Wednesday: Butler at Kiski Area

Tuesday: Moniteau at Union