Chilling effect
Butler's Negley, Ollio freeze Ellwood City's bats

By Derek Pyda
Eagle Staff Writer

Cade Negley and Connor Ollio succeeded in keeping Ellwood City's bats almost as cold as the frigid temperature Friday afternoon. Butler's pitching duo, a sophomore and freshman, respectively, held the Wolverines to just one unearned run on four hits in the Golden Tornado's 5-1 baseball win at Kelly Automotive Park. Negley and Ollio combined to strike out six and walked one. “They attacked the strike zone and worked ahead in the count,” said Tornado coach Todd Erdos. “It was a tremendous job by both of them.” It also was a welcomed sight for Butler, which dropped a 15-10 decision to Knoch on Wednesday due in large part to 11 free passes issued by Tornado pitchers. “They had been struggling with walking guys,” said Wolverines coach Jeff Fotia. “Not today. Their guys had good velocity and their curveballs were really working well. We were glad to see good pitching. We need to be ready for our section opener against Central Valley on Monday.” The game began with Negley working in the top of the first amidst snow flurries, which stuck around for the first few innings. He struck out Brian Hudson and Austin Richard during a scoreless opening frame. “I felt good out there,” Negley said of working in the cold. “You may have to warm up a bit more when it's like this, but you just have to get the snow out of your mind. I located the ball well in the first inning and that just added to my confidence for the rest of the game.” “Cade was locating his fastball and did a good job of changing speeds,” added Erdos. Meanwhile, Butler's offense staked Negley to a 3-0 lead with a run in each of the first three innings. Ian Steighner scored on Luke Baranchak's fielder's choice in the bottom of the first. Reid Werth singled home Conner Thomas in the second and Mark Gross came home on a throwing error in the third. Ellwood City starter Dillon Horgan pitched the first two innings. Justin Baney (three) and Tyler Good (one) worked the final four frames. Butler (2-1) tallied just five hits in the game, but the Tornado drew 10 free passes. “We had too many walks today,” said Fotia. “That was the difference.” Ollio entered the game in the top of the fifth and retired the first eight batters he faced. He gave up a two-out double to Brian Damon in the seventh. A throwing error then allowed courtesy runner Trey Moses to score the only run for Ellwood City (1-3). “It's tough to sit around in the cold for half the game, then come in and pitch,” Erdos said. “Connor came in and pitched very well.” “I threw about 20 pitches in the bullpen before I came in,” Ollio said. “It felt just like a start for me, just a shorter outing.” Ollio received some insurance in the bottom of the sixth when Steighner's double plated Nathan Kibbie and Werth.
Ellwood City 000 000 1 — 1 4 2 Butler 111 002 x — 5 5 2 W: Cade Negley 4 IP (3K, 1BB). L: Dillon Horgan 2 IP (1K, 3BB). S: Connor Ollio 3 IP (3K, 0BB). Ellwood City (1-3): Austin Richard 1B, Colin Roth 1B, Brian Damon 2B, Dillon Horgan 1B, Trey Moses R Butler (2-1): Reid Werth 1B R RBI, Ian Steighner 1B 2B R 2RBI, Mark Gross R, Luke Baranchak RBI, Cade Negley 1B, Chad White 1B, Nathan Kibbie R, Conner Thomas R