Big inning key to Cranberry victory in rain
CRANBERRY TWP — Butler Township and Cranberry Township saw their Butler County Area Baseball League game come to an early close Thursday night, but not after Cranberry scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to ensure a 9-2 victory.
Cranberry jumped out to a 3-0 lead after three innings, but Butler battled back in the top of the fourth to score two runs and cut the deficit to one.
“We bounced back, played solid for a little bit then the game got away from us again,” Butler coach Ty Friel said. “Give credit to them, they pitched well, defended well, we just didn't do enough to win a ballgame.”
Elijah White got the win for Cranberry, going five innings with seven strikeouts and five walks.
“(White) is one of my top pitchers; he was last year too,” said Cranberry coach Larry Stelitano. “I'm glad to have him back in his last year.”
Josh Bonetti took the loss as he pitched 4 2/3 innings with two strikeouts and a walk for Butler.
“Josh has been a guy who can pitch for us; he's stepped into that role nicely,” Friel said. “A lot of our pitchers this year are not pitchers by trade, they've adapted into it and they've done a nice job.”
Cranberry put the game out of reach in the bottom of the fifth with six runs, with most of the runs coming off throwing errors by Butler.
Heads-up base running by Cranberry also paid dividends.
“We have a smart team,” Stelitano said. “We got a mixture of some experienced players and new players that are learning and they're really starting to kick in the second half of the season.”
A lightning delay in the top of the sixth eventually brought an early end to the game as rain also moved into the area.
Butler's record dropped to 10-2 on the season, while Cranberry improved to 5-6.
Both teams will play on Saturday with Cranberry hosting Karns City in a doubleheader starting at 5 p.m., while Butler will travel to Freeport with first pitch at 6 p.m.
Butler Twp 000 20x x — 2 2 4
Cranberry Twp 201 06x x — 9 6 1
W: Elijah White 5IP (7K, 5BB). L: Josh Bonetti 4.2IP (2K, 1BB).
Butler (10-2): Shawn Marcellus 2B, Zack Slomers 2B
Cranberry (5-6): Evan Schneider 2 1B, Dylan Kingan 2 2B, Danny Jelinek 1B
Saturday: Karns City at Cranberry, 5 p.m.; Butler at Freeport, 6 p.m.
