vs
| 04/18/24 - Home | 3-9 L |
| 04/20/23 - Away | 5-0 W |
| 04/03/19 - Home | 3-4 L |
| 04/25/18 - Home | 6-3 W |
| 04/11/18 - Away | 10-5 W |
| + 3 more games |
Butler and Shaler Area are an even 4-4 against one another since April of 2015, but likely not for long. The Butler Golden Tornado will head out to challenge the Shaler Area Titans at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Butler will be looking to extend their current three-game winning streak.
Last Monday, Butler earned a 4-1 win over Knoch.
Aaron Lunn looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off five hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-low in walks (zero).
On the hitting side, Butler let Trent Best and Nash Cuffman run wild. Best scored a run while going 1-for-2, while Cuffman went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one double. The dominant performance also gave Best a new career-high in RBI (two). Another player making a difference was Jacob Szbalskie, who scored two runs and stole Two bases.
Meanwhile, after only two runs in their last contest, Shaler Area made sure to put some runs up on the board against Penn Hills on Tuesday. Shaler Area's pitchers stepped up to hand Penn Hills an 11-0 shutout. The Titans haven't had any issues with the Indians recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive victory against them.
Ben Yeckel made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Yeckel was also stellar in the batter's box, going a perfect 2-for-2 with one home run, two RBI, and one double.
In other pitching news, Sam Leo looked comfortable as he pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit.
Back at the plate, the team relied heavily on Colby Mcguire, who scored three runs and stole Two bases. while going 3-for-3. Mcguire is crushing it when it comes to stolen bases: he's snagged at least one every time he's taken the field this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Luke Jarzynka, who scored two runs while going 2-for-3.
Butler pushed their record up to 3-0 with the win, which was their third straight at home. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Shaler Area, their victory (their first of the season) made their record 1-2.
Butler suffered a grim 9-3 defeat to Shaler Area in their previous meeting back in April of 2024. Can Butler avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
