Pine-Richland pitcher Tommy Beam earned his “Grit Jar.”

Butler is still searching for some grit — to the great lament of Golden Tornado coach Cody Herald.

Pine-Richland's right-hander struggled with his footing on the mound at Michelle Krill Field at Historic Pullman Park Monday night, walking three in the first two innings.

Beam slid down on the rubber to avoid his landing foot sinking into a divot and cruised for five no-hit innings against Butler n a 10-0, six-inning victory.

“We give out a jar of grit to someone who overcomes something in a game,” said Pine-Richland coach Kurt Wolfe. “He was struggling. He kept falling in that hole and wasn't able to finish his throws. I thought he did a nice job making an adjustment.”

Butler failed in adjusting to Beam, who fed the Golden Tornado hitters a steady diet of fastballs.

Beam struck out 11 in five innings — six of them looking.

That, more than anything, had Herald seething.

“As a hitter, your odds of succeeding are very low,” Herald said. “We never press people, 'You have to get a hit.' But we express to them you have a quality at-bat. When you sit there and watch strike one and strike two, that puts your chances very low. Then you see a team like Pine and you see the success they had early. They jumped on pitches.”

The Rams (6-3, 4-0) jumped on Butler starter Austin Rodgers, scoring three runs on three hits in the top of the first.

But as Rodgers settled down, Butler (2-8, 1-3) couldn't capitalize on Beam's initial wildness.

The Golden Tornado stranded runners on first and second in the bottom of the first inning and runners on second and third in the bottom of the second.

Butler had only one more base runner the rest of the game — a double by Nathan Stutz against Pine-Richland reliever Troy Laneve with one out in the sixth that broke up the no-hitter.

“It's starting to get repetitive,” Herald said. “We have chances to stay in ballgames and we don't take them.”

Rodgers blanked Pine-Richland for two innings before the Rams broke the game open in the fourth.

Jake Maley had a RBI double and Grant Voytovich followed with a RBI single for a 5-0 lead.

The big blow came later in the inning when Josh Johnson hit a two-run, opposite-field homer to stake the Rams to a 7-0 lead.

“That really deflated them,” Wolfe said. “We were stalemated there for a couple of innings. Johnson's hit was the hit of the game.”

Wolfe said his team wasn't taking anything for granted against Butler, which only returned two starters from last season.

Wolfe saw first-hand how a season can turn last year when Pine-Richland started the section slate 1-4, but rallied to finish second and make the playoffs.

Butler also saw how quickly things can change in the section. The Tornado began last season 3-1, but barely squeaked into the playoffs.

Herald is hoping the fortunes of his team can change the other way this season.

“It's all there,” Herald said. “Some of them are scared and we don't know why. They've been playing this game for a long time. When you go out and have fun and play with no regrets, good things happen.

“No one wants to get 10-runned,” Herald said. “Will we learn from this? We will.”

Pine-Richland 300 421 x — 10 10 0

Butler 000 000 x — 0 1 0

W: Tommy Beam 5IP (11K, 3BB). L: Austin Rodgers 4IP (3K, 4BB).

Pine-Richland (7-3, 4-0): Matt Wood 1B 3B 2-RBI, Josh Scherer 2B RBI, J.D. Armstrong 3-2B RBI, Wesley Byrd 1B, Josh Johnson HR 2-RBI, Grant Voytovich 1B RBI

Butler (2-8, 1-3): Nathan Stutz 2B

Wednesday: Butler at Seneca Valley