Three-sport athletes are becoming a rarity in high school sports these days as prep athletics have become a more specialized thing.

That's not so much the case at smaller schools as coaches find ways to share their athletes. Karns City's Ashley Fox comes to mind that way, as she earned first team All-Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference in softball and girls track while competing in both this spring.

At the bigger schools, you rarely see such a thing anymore.

When you do, often times it's a kid choosing one or two other sports just to stay in shape for his primary sport.

Butler has an exception in that case.

Cooper Baxter.

Attending one of the bigger Class 6A schools in the state, the Golden Tornado junior not only competes in three sports — which is rare enough — he is a mainstay in all three.

And he doesn't favor any one sport over the other.

His impact was felt in all three sports during the 2020-21 high school athletic year.

The starting quarterback in football, Baxter accounted for touchdowns four different ways in Butler's 55-14 win over Blackhawk, the game that snapped a 24-game losing streak for the program.

He rushed for two touchdowns, threw a touchdown pass, returned an interception 20 years for a score and a fumble 55 yards to paydirt. He stepped in at middle linebacker in the latter part of the season and will likely start there his senior season.

In wrestling, Baxter barely missed qualifying for the WPIAL championship match at 189 pounds. He battled back through the consolation bracket and qualified for the West regional. He was the only Butler wrestler to do so.

Finally, a shortstop-pitcher on the Tornado baseball team, Baxter delivered a two-run triple on a 3-0 pitch for what proved to be the game-winning hit in a 5-1 playoff victory over Mt. Lebanon.

This kid enjoyed memorable moments in all three of his sports. He said in an interview this past year that he doesn't care which sport he plays in college, as long as he's able to compete.

Athletes who thrive on competition also thrive in big moments on the big stage.

Cooper Baxter is one of those guys.

His senior year could prove to be quite memorable in all three sports.

Anyone who follows the Pittsburgh Pirates knows all about the gaffe involving first baseman Will Craig in Thursday's loss to the Cubs.Javier Baez hits a grounder to third with two outs and a runner on second base. Craig fields a wide throw from Erik Gonzalez, chases Baez back toward the plate, inexplicably tossing the ball to the catcher in an attempt to nail the runner trying to sciore from second.The runner beat the throw, Baez races to an uncovered first base and the Pirates are red-faced.But not just Craig. The Pirates.Gonzalez had all day to make an accurate throw to first on that grounder and his throw was way off target. The catcher could have pointed to first and yelled at Craig to just retreat and step on the bag. The pitcher or second baseman could have covered first and forced out Baez after the runner crossed the plate, thereby nullifying the run.None of those things happened.The Pirates were caught napping all the way around.A losing team losing focus?Sure looks like it.<i>John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle</i>