PIAA baseball: Mavrik Clement pushes Butler to semifinals with walk-off hit over Chambersburg
CRESSON TWP, Cambria County — Much of Mavrik Clement’s spring has been spent being a reliable battery mate to Butler baseball’s two ace pitchers — Nolan Stefaniak and Kyle Casteel.
But the Golden Tornado senior catcher also has a knack for clutch hits, and his bat is a big reason why Butler is still playing this late into the season.
Clement’s double in the bottom of the seventh inning Thursday scored Boden Lenyk with the winning run as the Tornado turned away Chambersburg 3-2 in a PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal playoff at Mount Aloysius University.
Going 3 for 4 in the game, Clement also hit a solo home run in Monday’s 2-1 win over Mifflin County in the first round.
Butler will face Owen J. Roberts — a 7-2 winner over Muhlenberg — in a semifinal Monday at a site and time to be determined.
It is just the second time in school history that Butler has reached the state’s final four, joining the 1992 squad.
“It’s a good time of the year to get hot,” Clement, a University of Pittsburgh commit, said of his recent performance at the plate. “Anything I can do to help the team win, I wanna do it.”
Lenyk had led off the seventh by reaching on an error. Clement drilled reliever Devon Nalewak’s 2-2 pitch over the head of right fielder Ryne Mills and Lenyk raced home with the winning run.
For much of the game, Butler’s lineup was held in check by starter Hayden Lyons and Nalewak. The two southpaws allowed the three runs (two earned) on eight hits.
“Honestly, that’s the kind of pitching that can beat us,” Butler coach Josh Forbes said. “Lefties who don’t have a whole lot of velocity. We have five or six guys who can give us instant offense by hitting a home run, but it’s tough to hit it out against what we faced today.”
Chambersburg (18-8) got on the board first in the top of the third. Konner McMullen led off with a single, advanced on a sacrifice bunt from Matt Murphy and scored on Mills’ base hit.
Butler answered in the bottom of the inning when Lenyk doubled and came home on Stefaniak’s single.
Stefaniak, a Penn State commit, struck out nine, walked two and allowed just three hits to the Trojans in a complete-game effort. Chambersburg’s initial tally was just the third earned run he has allowed all season.
His fastball reached 94 mph on Thursday.
“Every game Nolan pitches, there’s radar guns and scouts watching,” Forbes said. “Everyone wants to come after him because he’s a Division I commit, but he does an incredible job of handling all the noise.”
Chambersburg coach Scott Folmar wanted his batters to come to the plate with confidence despite who was on the mound.
“Our approach was to be aggressive,” he said. “Put that front foot down and hit.”
A Butler miscue led to a run for the Trojans in the top of the sixth that knotted the score at two.
Aaron Vasquez was hit by a pitch to begin the half inning and he later scored on a Butler throwing error.
The Tornado had taken a 2-1 lead in the fifth with Blake Scott’s single driving in courtesy runner Preston Richter.
Lyons pitched well, striking out five and walking two in four-plus innings. He was relieved by Nalewak after Clement led off the fifth with a base hit.
“Hayden was incredible today. Both of our pitchers did well,” Folmar said. “We had a third guy ready, Cam Wadel, another lefty.”
The Tornado (21-3) have already turned in a historic season, winning the program’s first-ever WPIAL title. But they have the rest of their lives to reminisce. The focus is now on reaching the state championship game.
“I wasn’t even alive the last time Butler baseball played in a state semifinal,” Forbes said of the 1992 team. “It’s awesome to still be playing.”
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Butler head coach Josh Forbes celebrates with players after defeating Chambersburg 3-2 in a PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal baseball game Thursday, June 4, 2026, at Mt. Aloysius College's Calandra-Smith Field. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Butler Boden Lenyk (1) hugs Mavrik Clement (5) after defeating Chambersburg 3-2 in a PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal baseball game Thursday, June 4, 2026, at Mt. Aloysius College's Calandra-Smith Field. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Butler's Nolan Stefaniak, center right, hugs and celebrates with Mavrik Clement (5) after defeating Chambersburg 3-2 in a PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal baseball game Thursday, June 4, 2026, at Mt. Aloysius College's Calandra-Smith Field. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Butler Boden Lenyk (1) hugs Mavrik Clement (5) after defeating Chambersburg 3-2 in a PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal baseball game Thursday, June 4, 2026, at Mt. Aloysius College's Calandra-Smith Field. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Butler Boden Lenyk (1) celebrates with Mavrik Clement (5) after defeating Chambersburg 3-2 in a PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal baseball game Thursday, June 4, 2026, at Mt. Aloysius College's Calandra-Smith Field. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Butler's Nolan Stefaniak, center, hugs and celebrates with Mavrik Clement (5) after defeating Chambersburg 3-2 in a PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal baseball game Thursday, June 4, 2026, at Mt. Aloysius College's Calandra-Smith Field. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Butler's Boden Lenyk (1) celebrates with Mavrik Clement (5) after defeating Chambersburg 3-2 in a PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal baseball game Thursday, June 4, 2026, at Mt. Aloysius College's Calandra-Smith Field. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
Chambersburg 001 001 0 — 2 3 1
Butler 001 010 1 — 3 8 1
WP: Nolan Stefaniak 7 IP (9K, 2BB)
LP: Devon Nalewak 2+ IP (1K, 0BB)
Chambersburg: Ryne Mills 1B RBI, Brycen Murray 1B, Konner McMullen 1B R
Butler: Boden Lenyk 2B 2R, Mavrik Clement 1B 2-2B RBI, Nolan Stefaniak 1B RBI, Blake Scott 2-1B RBI, Ryan Rattigan 1B
