Golden Tornado gaining steam
Negley's 5 RBI, Butler no-hitter best New Castle

By Mike Kilroy 
Eagle Staff Writer 

In the offseason, Cade Negley decided if he wanted to be a better baseball player he needed to be in better shape. 
So the junior on the Butler baseball team sought out a strength and conditioning coach in Wexford, has traveled there three to four days a week for the last 30 weeks and put on 20 pounds of muscle. 
“I made a decision this year to change my body,” Negley said. “I put my mind to it and was dedicated every day.” 
It has shown up already in the results on the field for Negley. 
Friday he tossed six no-hit innings against Ellwood City and on a cold and blustery Monday afternoon at Kelly Automotive Park, Negley went 2-for-3 with a double and five RBI to lead the Golden Tornado to an 11-1, five-inning win over New Castle. 
Negley has not only focused on plyometrics, weight training and speed training, but also on his diet. 
That means fast food is out and chicken, fish and rice are in. Pop is out and water with lemon is in. 
“I went on an eating plan, too, so I've been eating all healthy,” Negley said. “My body feels great. 
“To see it pay off is a blessing, I would say.” 
Butler coach Todd Erdos has seen the transformation take place right before his eyes. 
“Kudos and credit to him,” Erdos said. “He put the work in and you can definitely see it in his size. It's translating to his game as well.” 
Like Negley, Butler (4-0) is off to a hot start this season. 
After nearly no-hitting Ellwood City in a 1-0 win last week, Connor Ollio and Zach Henderson combined for a five-inning no-hitter against New Castle. 
Ollio struggled at times with his command, walking three. But the big right-hander struck out six and gave up just one unearned run. 
“It was a tough day for a pitcher, especially on off-speed stuff because it's pretty hard to get good spin on the baseball when you can't feel your fingers,” Erdos said. “I thought he did a good job. A few times he lost his grip on his control, but he was able to hone back in and make the big pitches when he needed to.” 
Henderson, a left-hander, worked a 1-2-3 fifth inning for the Golden Tornado. 
“He did a nice job,” Erdos said. “It's always difficult to come off the bench in the cold weather like this. He came in and threw strikes.” 
Nathan Kibbie was 2-for-3 with a double with a pair of RBI in the bottom of the fifth inning that triggered the 10-run mercy rule. 
Butler's big inning came in the third when it scored six runs. Negley had a bases-loaded double that plated three runs and Nicolas Kibbie also had a RBI double. 
Butler will host North Allegheny Friday night at Kelly Automotive Park, weather permitting. 
“It just shows what our team is made of. We didn't back down. We played like it was 80 degrees,” Negley said. “We know we're going to have a tough one Friday — it's going to be in the 30s — so we played today to get ready for that one.” 
New Castle 001 00x x — 1 0 5 
Butler 036 02x x — 11 9 2 
No one out when mercy run scored 
W: Connor Ollio 4IP (6K, 3BB). L: Micah Falena 1.2IP (0K, 1BB). 
New Castle (3-3): Cam Stone R 
Butler (4-0): Nathan Kibbie 1B 2B 2-RBI 2-R, Dallas Hays 1B, Cade Negley 2B 1B 5-RBI, Brandon Hildebrand 1B, Nicolas Kibbie 2B 2-RBI, Jarett Lyon 1B, Alec Bayer 1B 3-R