Butler baseball’s little ‘good luck charm’ provides good juju in Tornado’s first WPIAL championship
NORTH FRANKLIN TWP, Washington County — Butler had fortune on its side Wednesday, in the form of someone who almost certainly weighed less than the WPIAL Class 6A baseball trophy Golden Tornado players lifted after their historic 4-2 win over North Allegheny.
Butler head coach Josh Forbes and wife Holly Bachman-Forbes welcomed baby Roman Isaiah last week. And the 5-day-old was in attendance for his first game Wednesday at EQT Park.
“We’ve been calling him our good luck charm the whole season,” Holly Bachman-Forbes said with her son in her arm. “Him being now outside of the womb, at his first game in person, I was a little nervous it might sway the juju, but it doesn’t seem like that was the case.”
Bachman-Forbes, who served as the team’s athletic trainer through the season until the district semifinal victory last week, refused to miss the occasion.
“Just so grateful. He’s so deserving,” Bachman-Forbes said of her husband, her voice breaking, before cracking a joke. “The postpartum hormones. … The boys are so deserving. I’m just happy, again, so fortunate to be here and be able to share this with them.”
Roman weighed a “little under 8 pounds” when he was born, his mother said. In the crowd, he wore a navy blue onesie declaring him a “Future Rookie of the Year” — “Believe it or not, we’ve got a lot of clothes with baseballs on them,” Bachman-Forbes quipped — and fussed some early on. But he slumbered through the rest of the game, including the raucous postgame celebration.
In the nights leading up to the momentous contest, Forbes set the example for how to sleep heavily while Bachman-Forbes kept mindful about her husband’s non-parenting responsibilities.
“She’s been letting me kinda sleep through the night. I’m gonna have to guess that things are gonna change here in a little bit, just because we got through the hard part of the WPIAL,” Forbes said. “Don’t get me wrong, states is gonna be super hard, but this was the hard thing.
“This was the monkey off our back.”
Butler (20-3) advances to just its second PIAA tournament appearance and will play District 6 champion Mifflin County in the first round Tuesday at a site and time expected to be announced later this week.
“It’s truly just a team effort all the way around,” Bachman-Forbes said. “Once baseball slows down, then of course you know there will be a little bit more expectations for him at home.”
It’s not a few-day span Forbes and his wife will soon forget.
“Probably one of the best weeks of my life, to be honest,” Forbes said.
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Butler players dogpile on the mound after beating North Allegheny 4-2 in the WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship game Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at EQT Park. Seb Foltz/Special to the Eagle
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Butler players celebrate on the mound after beating North Allegheny 4-2 in the WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship game Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at EQT Park. Seb Foltz/Special to the Eagle
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Butler pitcher Kyle Casteel (10) and catcher Mavrik Clement (5) celebrate their 4-2 win over North Allegheny in the WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship game Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at EQT Park. Seb Foltz/Special to the Eagle
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Butler pitcher Nolan Stefaniak (14) pitches against North Allegheny in the WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship game Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at EQT Park. Seb Foltz/Special to the Eagle
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Butler pitcher Nolan Stefaniak (14) pitches against North Allegheny in the WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship game Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at EQT Park. Seb Foltz/Special to the Eagle
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Butler's Nash Cuffman (21) celebrates after reaching second base against North Allegheny in the WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship game Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at EQT Park. Seb Foltz/Special to the Eagle
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Butler's Blake Scott (8) dives for home but is tagged out by North Allegheny catcher Ben Kowger (28) in the WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship game Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at EQT Park. Seb Foltz/Special to the Eagle
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Butler's Boden Lenyk (1) rounds third base after a home run against North Allegheny in the WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship game Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at EQT Park. Seb Foltz/Special to the Eagle
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Butler's Boden Lenyk (1) shrugs at his bench as he rounds the bases following his home run against North Allegheny in the WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship game Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at EQT Park. Seb Foltz/Special to the Eagle
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Butler players celebrate after beating North Allegheny in the WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship game Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at EQT Park. Seb Foltz/Special to the Eagle
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The Butler student section cheers after the Tornado beat North Allegheny in the WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship game Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at EQT Park. Seb Foltz/Special to the Eagle
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Butler catcher Mavrik Clement (10) hugs his dad, assistant coach Matt Clement, following the win over North Allegheny in the WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship game Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at EQT Park. Seb Foltz/Special to the Eagle
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Butler's Boden Lenyk (1) runs to first base after a hitting the ball against North Allegheny in the WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship game Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at EQT Park. Seb Foltz/Special to the Eagle
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Butler's Nash Cuffman (21) beat's a throw to second base against North Allegheny in the WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship game Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at EQT Park. Seb Foltz/Special to the Eagle
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Butler pitcher Kyle Casteel throws his glove in celebration after recording the final strikeout to beat North Allegheny in the WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship game Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at EQT Park. Seb Foltz/Special to the Eagle
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North Allegheny's Gavin Ust (18) beats a throw to home to Butler's Mavrik Clement (5) in the WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship game Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at EQT Park. Seb Foltz/Special to the Eagle
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Butler's Boden Lenyk (1) shrugs at his bench as he rounds the bases following his home run against North Allegheny in the WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship game Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at EQT Park. Seb Foltz/Special to the Eagle
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Butler baseball coach Josh Forbes, right, poses for a photo with his wife, Holly Bachman-Forbes, and their newborn son, Roman, after the Golden Tornado’s 4-2 WPIAL Class 6A baseball title win over North Allegheny at EQT Park on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. Brendan Howe/Butler Eagle
