NA Defeats Butler, 3-2, Behind Career-High 12 Strikeouts By David Posey
The North Allegheny baseball team took game two of the three game series with the Butler Golden Tornado on Wednesday night, 3-2, in Section 1-6A action. The win was NA’s 10th straight in the head-to-head series with the Golden Tornado and was keyed by strong start pitching performance by junior hurler David Posey.
Coming off a 13-0 shutout of Butler the night before, the Tigers carried a 25-consecutive scoreless innings streak against the GT’s. Posey extended that scoreless streak to 30-straight innings, blanking Butler over five hitless frames. The right-hander yielded only one walk and struck out a career-high 12 batters on his way to Wright Automotive Player of the Game honors.
Anthony Varlotta legs out a single to spark NA’s three-run second inning.
Butler starter Colin Casteel, a Youngstown State commit, was also impressive and struck out 10 batters in six strong innings. However, the Tigers were able to break through against Casteel in the second inning for three runs to grab a 3-0 lead. A one-out single by Anthony Varlotta and subsequent stolen base started the uprising. Following a walk by senior Brett McSparran, senior Ian Zahorchak delivered an RBI single to score Varlotta for the game’s first run. Junior Cole Hammer added a two-run double to extend the NA lead to 3-0.
NA’s three-run advantage lasted until the sixth inning when the GT’s finally ended their scoring drought against the Tigers. Butler scored its first run against North Allegheny since 2019 when a throwing error allowed Andrew Lucas to cross the plate, trimming the score to 3-1, Tigers. An RBI single by Mac Schnur cut the NA lead to 3-2 later in the inning, but the Tigers displayed their mettle just as the game’s tension grew. On Schnur’s base hit to right field, McSparran threw a dart to third baseman Andrew Hart, who tagged out Noah Collins for the second out of the inning. After a walk by James Desmond put the potential go-ahead run on the bases, Hart entered the game in relief and immediately struck out pinch-hitter Carson Bish, keeping NA’s one-run lead intact.
Hart also pitched a scoreless seventh inning and struck out three of the four batters he retired for his first save of the season. Junior southpaw Charles Mau collected two outs in the sixth and allowed two runs (one earned) before giving way to Hart. Casteel was the hard-luck loser despite a fine outing for the Golden Tornado.
With the win, North Allegheny improves to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in Section 1-6A. Butler slips to 4-5 overall and 2-3 in the section. The Tigers will visit the Golden Tornado on Friday evening at Pullman Park at 5:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live by the North Allegheny Sports Network.
Line Score - Baseball vs. Butler - 04/12/2023
| Score by Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Butler | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| North Allegheny | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 3 | 5 | 4 |