Tornado put up 15 runs on young Knoch team

By Sam Tallarico
Eagle Staff Writer

BUTLER TWP — A young Knoch Knights team took the early lead against Butler Thursday.
The experienced Golden Tornado took it from there.
After spotting the Knights a 2-0 first-inning advantage, Butler rapped out 19 hits en route to a 15-2, five-inning victory.
An eight-run uprising in the third inning put the nonsection game out of reach.
"It took a little time to adjust to the pitching, but once we waited on the pitch, we did real well," said Butler coach Lori Kline.
Angie Reddick led the way for the Tornado with four hits and two RBI, while three other players had three hits. Sadie Marak drove in three runs while Reddick, Amanda Skidmore, Olivia Vasey and Olivia Hortert each had two RBI.
"We're very young," said Knoch coach Tim Knappenberger. "We have a freshman battery (pitcher Jhoey DeWalt and catcher Karsan Simpson). We have two freshmen pitchers."
In the third inning, Butler (2-0) held a 5-2 lead before Vasey opened with a double, and Mackenzie O'Donnell and Hortert followed with RBI singles.
After two outs, the Tornado had seven consecutive hits — an RBI double by Caitlin Baxter, a run-scoring single by Reddick, a single by Marak, a two-run double by Skidmore, an RBI single by Vasey, a single by O'Donnell, then a run-scoring single by Hortert — to take a commanding 13-2 lead.
"We have a lot of depth this year," Kline said.
Knoch (0-2) had taken a 2-0 lead off Skidmore when, with two outs, Mindy Bierhals singled, then moved to third on an error off the bat of Brittany McDermott. On the way to third, the ball hit McDermott's helmet and went out of the field of play, allowing Bierhals to score.
Simpson's RBI single plated McDermott.
Butler answered with four runs in the home half of the inning. Marak added an RBI single in the second inning to make it 5-2.
Skidmore settled down and blanked the Knights over the second and third innings before O'Donnell finished the game.
"We're trying to be competitive," said Knappenberger. "We have three good seniors (Bierhals, Melissa Steinmiller and McDermott). That's our only upperclassmen. We have four freshmen, one junior and some sophomores.
"We're trying to rebuild the whole program in Saxonburg. ... I want them to come together as a team. It's not all about wins and losses," the coach added.

Knoch 200 00x x — 2 4 3
Butler 418 2xx x — 15 19 2
W: Amanda Skidmore 3 IP (2 K, 0 BB). L: Jhoey DeWalt 2X\c IP (0 K, 1 BB).
Knoch (0-2): Mindy Bierhals 1B, 2B; Karsan Simpson 1B, RBI; Megan Schorr 1B
Butler (2-0): Caitlin Baxter 1B, 2B, 3B, RBI; Angie Reddick 3-1B, 2B, 2 RBI; Sadie Marak 3-1B, 3 RBI; Amanda Skidmore 1B, 2B, 2 RBI; Olivia Vasey 2-1B, 2B, 2 RBI; Mackenzie O'Donnell 1B, RBI; Olivia Hortert 2-1B, 2 RBI