Starting pitcher Chad Coles reached a fork in the road early on in Butler's Prospect League game against Chillicothe Tuesday night.

The path he took led to a much-needed win for the BlueSox.

Coles left the bases loaded in the top of the first inning as Chillicothe's offense never did get on track in Butler's 4-1 victory at Kelly Automotive Park.

The win snapped the Sox' 4-game losing streak.

“He did a good job of buckling down, minimizing the damage and getting out of that inning,” said Butler manager Cody Herald. “He was very consistent with living low in the zone tonight.”

Coles appeared on his way to an easy first inning when he retired the first two batters, but soon found himself in a jam. Consecutive singles from Chad Roberts and Andrew Czech was followed by a walk to Conner Klemann. In stepped left-handed hitting Gama Martinez to the batter's box with the bases loaded.

“That was a lot of pressure,” said Coles. “I just stepped back, took a deep breath and focused on painting the outside corner with a lefty at the plate. It worked out.”

Coles struck out Martinez and went on to allow just one run on six hits in his six innings. He fanned six and walked two.

“I get a lot of support with people rooting for me, especially out of the bullpen,” Coles added. “I want to go out there and do well. It felt great to get this win, especially coming in Butler.

“I kept coming back to my curveball tonight,” said Coles. “I followed it up with my fastball and hoped for the best.”

Coles worked 1-2-3 innings in the third and sixth. The Paints (9-3) managed their one run against him in the fifth. Trace Hatfield and Dallas Hall both singled to begin the inning. Following a strikeout of Drew DeVine, Butler catcher Kellen Sarver tried to make Hatfield pay for straying too far off of second base, but his throw was high and sailed into center field.

Second baseman Nick Mancuso jumped in an attempt to catch the throw, and came down on the back of Hatfield, who had made a break for third after the errant throw. The latter was awarded third base because of interference and later scored on Roberts' sacrifice fly.

The run tied the game at 1, but the Sox regained the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth. Facing Paints' relief pitcher Colin Clark, Nick Spiliotis singled home Sarver, prompting Clark's exit from the mound. Damon Egnor was brought in and threw a wild pitch that allowed Colton Carney to score.

Butler (3-7) added an insurance run when Carney doubled in Grant Hannant in the seventh.

The lead was in good hands. Tre Thomas relieved Coles at the beginning of the seventh and worked three scoreless innings to earn a save.

Butler had broken the ice in the bottom of the first against Chillicothe starter Canyon McWilliams. Andrew Chuba singled, moved to second on a wild pitch and stole third base. He scored easily on Sarver's one-out base hit to center field.

Sarver was 2-for-4 in the game and is now batting .313.

“He was red-shirted at (the University of) Illinois and didn't get many swings,” Herald said of Sarver. “But he has come up big when we needed it. As a catcher, he's done a good job of getting on the same page with the pitchers.”

Butler begins a two-game series at West Virginia Wednesday night.

Chillicothe 000 010 000 — 1 7 1

Butler 100 002 10x — 4 7 1

W: Chad Coles 6 IP (6K, 2BB). L: Canyon McWilliams 5 IP (8K, 2BB). S: Tre Thomas 3 IP (4K, 2BB).

Chillicothe (9-3): Dallas Hall 2-1B, Chad Roberts 1B RBI, Trace Hatfield 2-1B R

Butler (3-7): Andrew Chuba 1B R, Kellen Sarver 2-1B R RBI, Colton Carney 1B 2B R RBI, Nick Spiliotis 1B RBI

Wednesday: Butler at West Virginia