A portion of this story was omitted in Friday's edition.

BUTLER TWP — Austin Rodgers had ample reason to give in.

Butler Township's pitcher allowed three runs in the first two innings Thursday, due in large part to three walks and two hit-batsmen.

He surrendered a pair of two-run home runs to Pine Richland's Joe Connell, one coming in the first inning and the other tied the game at five in the top of the fifth frame.

But Rodgers fought through it and came within one out of working a complete game in an 8-6 victory in the first game of a Butler County Area Baseball League doubleheader at Butler High School's field.

Butler manager Tyler Friel appreciated the arduous outing from Rodgers.

“When a pitcher doesn't have it early, but is able to get to where Austin got in the game, that's battling,” said Friel. “It was a classic, gutsy effort.”

In Game 2, Butler battled back from a 5-0 deficit to tie the game in the sixth. In the top of the seventh, Bryan Presco tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly from Braden Marcellus.

Pitcher Jerome Oliver stranded two PR baserunners in the bottom of the inning to preserve the 6-5 win.

The losses were the first of the season for Pine Richland (7-2), the defending league champion.

Butler improved to 8-6.

Rodgers' teammates immediately got back the lead for him following Connell's second blast in Game 1. John Piroch, Oliver and Josh Bonetti each tallied RBI singles for an 8-5 edge.

Rodgers worked a 1-2-3 sixth and retired the first two batters of the seventh before Thomas Connell tripled and was driven in on a single from Brett Jones.

Colin Patterson came on to get the final out, a strikeout of Joe Connell, whose home runs knocked Rodgers down, but not out earlier in the game.

“Both pitches were fastballs right down the middle that got away from me. They were supposed to be high and inside and ended up in the strike zone,” said Rodgers, who struck out six and walked five in earning the win. “I just kept sharp mentally.”

And that is how he prevailed in Friel's eyes.

“It was his mental approach,” Friel said. “Austin has pitched in a lot of baseball games. He's been here before.”

Rodgers' effort was even more important considering two Butler pitchers — Colin Gallagher and Josh Grigoletti — are currently unable to pitch due to injuries.

Six Pine Richland errors led to three unearned runs charged to starting pitcher Nick Guidas and Joe Connell, the reliever.

“Six errors, that was the theme of the game,” said PR manager Brad Ansell. “Our defense is usually strong, but it hurt us tonight.”

Butler Township scored one run off Guidas in the first. The pitcher was pulled after one inning.

“He said his arm was hurting,” Ansell explained. “You could see with the last couple of batters he faced, he was having a tough time finding the zone.”

Butler Township took its initial lead in the bottom of the third. Trailing 3-1, Ryan Hepfl got things started with a leadoff triple and scored on a wild pitch.

Kevin King and Piroch both walked and Oliver singled. All three came home on errors for a 5-3 advantage.

Pine Richland 210 020 1 — 6 9 6

Butler Twp. 104 030 x — 8 7 0

W: Austin Rodgers 6.2 IP (6K, 5BB). L: Joe Connell 5 IP (4K, 4BB)

Pine Richland: Thomas Connell 1B 3B 2R, Brett Jones 1B R RBI, Joe Connell 1B 2HR 4RBI, Chuck Spontak 2-1B

Butler Township: John Piroch 1B 3R RBI, Jerome Oliver 2-1B RBI, Ryan Hepfl 1B 3B R

Monday: Karns City at Butler Township (DH)