No. 1 Butler pounds Norwin to clinch 1st WPIAL baseball championship game appearance this century
ROSS TWP — Norwin landed an early punch on Kyle Casteel.
But Butler responded with a quick knockout.
The Golden Tornado scored five runs before recording an out in the bottom of the first inning, supporting its senior right-hander en route to a 9-3 WPIAL Class 6A semifinal baseball victory Wednesday at North Hills’ Guadagnino Field.
The victory was the Tornado’s 12th straight and lands Butler in the district title game for the first time in more than 30 years.
“Those guys always have my back,” Casteel said of his teammates.
They wasted no time in showing it.
Norwin (13-9) grabbed a sudden 1-0 lead in the top of the first. After Casteel struck out the first two Knights, Caden Sivrich deposited a fastball over the right-field fence. Two singles followed before Josh Funk lined out to left to end the frame.
Boden Lenyk led off the bottom of the first for Butler and drilled Jake Knight’s first pitch over the center-field fence to knot the game. Mavrik Clement walked, and Trent Best was hit by a pitch.
Nolan Stefaniak delivered a three-run homer to center. Blake Scott doubled to left, Ryan Rattigan beat out an infield single and Karsten Lenyk produced a run-scoring infield hit.
The next three Butler batters were retired, but the damage was done.
“Their home run didn’t bother me because one run is not gonna beat us, and we had Kyle on the mound. He did a nice job of settling in,” Butler coach Josh Forbes said. “When Boden hit that first pitch over the fence, I knew the game was ours.
“You could see their players deflate on the field. To give up the lead just like that ... it took a lot out of them. Then, we just kept going.”
The Tornado (19-3) got to Norwin pitchers Knight and Sivrich for 12 hits in the first four innings. Casteel threw 78 of his 107 pitches for strikes in a complete-game effort. He struck out 14 and walked one.
“My fastball sweeper was my go-to pitch today,” Casteel said. “I had total command of it. Once we scored all of those runs in the first, I felt so much more comfortable. Just go out there and pitch.”
Lenyk referred to his home run as “my best moment” of the season.
“I wanted that one so badly,” he said. “Make something happen fast and get that run back. It was a pitch up and away, and I hit it square. That felt great.”
Lenyk added a run-scoring single in the third inning. When Best and Stefaniak opened the fourth with singles, Knight was relieved by Sivrich after throwing 74 pitches.
Rattigan produced a two-run single, and Nash Cuffman drew a bases-loaded walk to give the Tornado a 9-1 lead in that fourth frame.
“Our pitchers did well, but we were leaving too many pitches up and they hit them,” Norwin coach Craig Spisak said.
Stefaniak led Butler’s attack with his homer, two singles, three RBIs and two runs scored.
“Being able to respond with that five-spot turned the game,” Stefaniak said. “We put together a bunch of good at-bats there.”
Norwin did collect seven hits off Casteel, who allowed only one earned run during the regular season.
“You face a lot of Division I arms in 6A baseball,” Spisak said. “Canon-Mac has a couple, Mt. Lebanon has one. ... You just have to make decisions quicker at the plate. But he (Casteel) was spotting his pitches really well.”
Butler will go after its first-ever WPIAL baseball crown next week.
“We went to war today and came out on top,” Casteel said.
“This means everything,” Stefaniak said. “Now we have to go back out and try to win it all.”
Norwin 100 020 0 — 3 7 2
Butler 501 300 x — 9 12 0
WP: Kyle Casteel 7IP (14so, 1bb). LP: Jake Knight 3IP (3so, 3bb)
Norwin (13-9): Tristyn Tavares 1B, Caden Sivrich HR 2B 2-RBIs 2 R, Derek Berger 2-1B RBI, Zane Markovitz 2-1B.
Butler (19-3): Boden Lenyk HR 1B 2-RBIs, Trent Best 1B 2-R, Nolan Stefaniak HR 2-1B 3-RBIs 2-R, Blake Scott 2B, Ryan Rattigan 2-1B 2-RBIs, Karsten Lenyk 2-1B RBI, Jake Szebalskie 1B, Nash Cuffman RBI.
May 26 or 27: Butler vs. Canon-McMillan/North Allegheny winner, WPIAL 6A championship game, EQT Park
