Dynamic duo
Whether it was right-hander Wyatt Daugherty or left-hander Zach Henderson, the
results were the same.
Strikeouts and goose eggs.
The Butler pitching duo combined for 14 strikeouts as the Golden
Tornado baseball team routed former section foe New Castle, 10-2, Monday
afternoon at Kelly Automotive Park.
“Both of them have been throwing the ball really well,” said
Butler coach Todd Erdos, a former major league pitcher who knows a thing or two
about dominating performances on the hill. “(Daugherty) battled out there. He
shut them down when he needed to. And Henderson, he's been pitching the ball
very well. He's been locating, changing speeds and for the most part working
ahead in the count.”
Daugherty struck out eight in four innings of work. He was
touched up for two runs in the third inning, but otherwise was masterful.
Henderson relieved Daugherty to start the fifth inning and
retired all nine batters he faced, striking out six, to get the save.
“It's a good compliment with Wyatt coming from the right side and
Henderson coming in and dropping down from the left side and changing speeds,”
Erdos said. “He's kind of hard to pick up as a lefty.”
While the pitching was good for Butler, so was the hitting.
The Golden Torando (3-1) scored two runs in the bottom of the
first inning, keyed by an RBI triple by Ian Steighner, and added three more
runs in the bottom of the second frame. Mark Gross and Luke Baranchak had a
pair of run-scoring hits in the inning.
Butler banged out 11 hits in the win.
“Overall our pitching has been very good and that's what I
expected,” Erdos said. “But I've been very surprised by our hitting. We've put
a lot of hits and a lot of runs on the board so far this season.”
The hitting success has carried up and down the lineup.
No. 2 hitter Steighner went 2-for-2 with three RBI and two runs
scored against New Castle and No. 9 hitter Nathan Kibbie also drove in two runs
for the Golden Tornado.
“Kibbie's been working very hard in the cage, working on getting
his hands in the proper hitting position,” Erdos said. “And Steighner has been
hitting the ball very well. I'm very pleased with him.”
Butler was also aggressive on the basepaths against the Red
Hurricanes. The Tornado swiped five bases as a team.
“We're still trying to get a feel for what some guys can do,”
Erdos said. “We definitely feel like we have some guys who can run and can force
some things to happen.”
If there was one negative for Butler against New Castle, it was
leaving runners stranded on base. The Golden Tornado left 10 runners on and
seven in scoring position.
“Sometimes when you get guys in scoring position, you try too
hard, you try to do too much at the plate,” Erdos said. “That's one thing we
need to improve on and it's been one thing we've struggled with so far. We've
left a lot of guys on so far this season.”
New Castle 002 000 0 — 2 8 3
Butler 230 032 x — 10 11 1
W: Wyatt Daugherty 4IP (8K, 1BB). L: Matt Gibson 3IP (1K, 2BB).
SV: Zach Henderson 3IP (6K, 0BB)
New Castle: Gino Quahliero 2B 1B, Joe Gunn 2B RBI, Zach Senchak
2B, Gibson 1B RBI, George Dudlich 2-1B, Shawn Graziani 2B
Butler (3-1): Reid Werth 1B 2-R, Ian Steighner 3B 1B 2-R 3-RBI,
Garett Goslaw 1B, Mark Gross 1B RBI, Luke Baranchak 2B RBI 2-R, Henderson 1B
RBI, Lake Sankey 2-1B, Nathan Kibbie 1B 2-RBI