Walk-off win for Tornado
Baxter sacrifice fly
topples Kiski, 4-3
March 30, 2021 High School Baseball
Butler's
Madden Clement delivers a pitch during the Golden Tornado's 4-3 win over Kiski
Area at Pullman Park.
HAROLD AUGHTON/BUTLER EAGLE
Logan McGarry felt very confident in his
control late in a baseball game at Pullman Park.
With his team tied with Butler in the bottom
of the seventh inning, Kiski Area's pitcher was facing the bases loaded with no
outs — largely not his fault due to a fielding error and a fielder's choice
that backfired.
Butler's Cooper Baxter stepped to the plate
knowing that the game could be won in a number of ways, including a walk or a
wild pitch.
What does McGarry offer up in his first
pitch to Baxter? A curveball ... for a called strike.
“I usually look for a fastball on first
pitch because it's easier to adjust if a curveball is thrown,” Baxter said.
“The second pitch was another curve in the exact same spot.”
This time Baxter went for it and made solid
contact on a fly ball to left field. The catch was made, but courtesy runner
Lance Slater tagged up from third base and scored easily to earn a 4-3 victory
for the Golden Tornado.
Since giving up an RBI-single to Conner
McTighe that gave Butler a temporary 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth
frame, McGarry had retired eight straight batters entering the seventh.
But McTighe started the inning by getting
hit by a pitch. Mattix Clement then hit a groundball headed toward the second
base bag. Shortstop Kyle Poremski fielded the ball in front of the base, then
attempted to dive back to make the tag on Slater, who had entered the game, but
Poremski was too late.
David Leslie loaded the bases when he
reached on a fielding error, which brought Baxter to the plate.
“We weren't planning on Logan pitching the
whole game,” said Kiski Area coach Aaron Albert. “We had a couple of other guys
lined up, but he was throwing strikes and kept getting outs.”
Jack Beneigh, the fourth and final pitcher
for Butler, got the win after working two perfect innings of relief with four
strikeouts.
“I'm ecstatic about Jack's effort,”
exclaimed Butler coach Josh Forbes. “We feel he can step into a role this year,
as a starter or reliever, however we need him.”
The Cavaliers (0-1) were the first to score.
Butler starting pitcher Madden Clement struck out six in his three innings, but
also walked four batters. Two of them scored on Frank DiNinno's single in the
top of the third.
Butler (2-0) quickly evened the score in the
bottom of the inning. Singles from Mattix Clement and Leslie were followed by a
walk to Baxter to load the bases. Colin Patterson's sacrifice fly plated one
run and designated hitter Brady Gavula's single brought home another.
The Golden Tornado totaled five hits in the
game.
“We got into numerous hitter's counts today,
but wasted them on swinging at bad pitches,” said Forbes. “They were pitches
that (McGarry) wanted us to swing at.”
Logan Koegler and Colin Casteel followed
Madden Clement on the mound. The Cavaliers tied the game at 3 in the top of the
fifth, during which Koegler left the mound with the bases loaded and one out.
He was charged with a run when Carson Craig hit a sacrifice fly off Casteel,
who escaped the frame with no further damage by stranding two base runners.
The quartet of Butler pitchers combined to
strike out 13, walk seven and surrendered just three hits.
“Butler's a good team,” Albert said. “This
was also a non-section game and we weren't as aggressive on the bases because
we wanted to see what our guys could do at the plate. If it were a section
game, we would've been more active.”
Kiski Area 002 010 0 — 3 3 3
Butler 002 100 1 — 4 5 1
W: Jack Beneigh 2 IP (4K, 0BB). L: Logan McGarry
6.1 IP (3K, 2BB).
Kiski Area (0-1): Frank DiNinno 1B 2RBI
Butler (2-0): Mattix Clement 1B R, David
Leslie 1B R, Brady Gavula 1B RBI, Ethan Trettel 1B R, Conner McTighe 1B RBI