Super slam



BUTLER TWP — Reid Werth dug his cleats into the soft dirt and chugged around first base.

It wasn’t until the
Butler senior center fielder was on his way to the second-base bag that he realized he no longer needed to sprint.
His line drive had found the trees beyond the right-center field wall at the
Butler High School baseball field.
The grand slam opened up a close game and keyed a seven-run fourth inning for
Butler in an 11-1, six-inning rout of Moon Monday night.
“Little League, probably,” Werth said, laughing, when asked the last time he had hit a grand slam. “I don’t know.
“I put my head down because I thought it was going to go into the gap,” Werth added. “I was looking to go for (a double).”
Werth has been hitting the ball well out of the No. 2 hole for the Golden Tornado this season, batting well over .400 this season.
Over the weekend, Werth had a pair of doubles and three RBI in a win over North Hills.
Werth had five RBI against Moon.
“He’s a senior and he’s been working hard in the cage,” said Butler coach Todd Erdos.
Butler (5-4, 2-0) pounded out 10 hits in six innings against Moon (5-2, 0-2), including four that went for extra bases.
No. 8 hitter Lake Sankey had two doubles in the fourth inning, his second driving in three to cap the big inning.
All nine spots in the Butler order either had a hit, an RBI or reached base on a walk.
“With as little as we’ve been outside, we’ve had a great approach at the plate,” Erdos said. “We’re taking pitches and hitting the ball hard.”
The runs were more than enough for Butler starting pitcher Mark Gross, who was wild at times, but bore down and got out of trouble when he needed key outs.
Moon plated a run in the first on the benefit of a walk, a wild pitch, an error and a RBI groundout, but that was all that Gross allowed.
The right-hander got into a bases-loaded jam in the fourth, but got a big strikeout to end the inning.
Gross struck out five, walked three and hit a batter in five innings of work. Moon had just two hits in the game.
“Like any pitcher, he’s at his best when he’s throwing strikes,” Erdos said. “He had a walk that came around to score and we made a mistake, but he settled down. They loaded the bases against him in the fourth, but he got out of it.”
Sophomore Cade Negley pitched the sixth for Butler. He walked a pair, but got a strikeout to get out of the inning.
“He can spot his fastball on both sides of the plate and he has a very good curveball when he can throw it like we know he can,” Erdos said. “Coming in in relief, he didn’t warm up as long as he’s used to like he does before a start. He’s going to have to start a game for us this week.”
Butler was once again aggressive on the bases.
The Golden Tornado swiped two bags and also moved up 90 feet seven other times on wild pitches uncorked by a trio of Moon hurlers, including starter Colton Hower, and a pair of passed balls.
Hower didn’t get an out in the fourth inning and was tagged with the loss.
“We have some guys who can run and we’re going to be aggressive running the bases,” Erdos said. “We have to do it smartly and not take unnecessary risks and we’ve been doing that.”
Moon came into the season as one of the favorites to win the section title, but are now 0-2 in Section 1-AAAA after rolling off five straight non-league wins.
All six team in the section have overall records of .500 or better. But three teams, including Butler, are 2-0 in section play. The other three are 0-2.
“This was real big,” Werth said. “We came out Saturday for our first section game (against North Hills) and the intensity was pretty good. We had the same intensity for this one. We just have to keep the same momentum this week because it’s a big one.”
Butler has Pine-Richland on the road Wednesday and then hosts Seneca Valley at Kelly Automotive Park Friday night.
“It’s only two section games, so it’s early,” Erdos said. “And we have a big week ahead.”
Moon 100 000 x — 1 2 4
Butler 201 701 x — 11 10 1
Two out when mercy-rule run scored
W: Mark Gross 5IP (5K, 3BB). L: Colton Hower 3+IP (2K, 2BB).
Moon (5-2, 0-2): Austin Hoffman 1B, Brian Casper RBI, Kyle Bondi 1B
Butler (5-4, 2-0): Dallas Hays 2B 1B 2-R, Reid Werth 1B HR 5-RBI, Garett Goslaw 1B, Ian Steighner RBI, Luke Baranchak 1B, Mark Gross RBI, Cade Negley 1B, Lake Sankey 2-2B 3-RBI, Connor Ollio 1B RBI
Wednesday: Butler at Pine-Richlan