JACKSON TWP — With the tying and winning runs in scoring position and one out, Butler had its best hitter at the plate.

But she didn’t swing.

Clean-up batter Rachel Rebmann laid down a bunt in the seventh inning, Hannah Hays was thrown out at the plate and Seneca Valley held on for a 5-4 Section 3-AAAA softball victory Saturday afternoon.

“We didn’t play our best game today, but we found a way to win,” SV coach George Trew said. “We got through the first round of section play at 6-1. That’s what counts.”

The Raiders got through courtesy of a stellar play by third baseman Ashley Kappeler.

Rebmann dropped the bunt down the third base line and Hays broke for the plate. Kappeler charged in, scooped up the ball and flipped it to catcher Jess Neill in the same motion, barely nipping Hays for the second out.

Jen Miller then grounded out to the pitcher to end the game.

“Ashley made a big play there,” Trew said of the bunt play. “The tendency is to flip the throw high when you’re charging in like that. She kept the ball low enough for us to get the tag.”

Butler began the inning with consecutive singles by Hays and Emily McDonald. Noel Pfabe grounded out to second, moving both runners up.

That brought Rebmann to the plate.

“Their coach went out to talk to the pitcher and I talked to Rachel,” Butler coach Shauna Troup said. “She’s our best hitter, but she’s also an excellent bunter.

“I asked her if she could do it and she said, ‘100 percent, I can do it.’ So we took a shot. Yeah, I could have her swing. There’s no guarantees either way. You make your decision and what happens, happens.

“She got the bunt down. They made the play. I thought Hanna’s legs got under the tag, but he (plate umpire) had a better view than I did,” Troup added.

Trew admitted to being surprised by the Rebmann bunt.

“A little bit,” he said. “If she gets a hit to the outfield, they could have taken the lead. But if the bunt works, they’re in great shape, too. Any decision looks great if it works. I gambled on sending a runner from first to third earlier and that didn’t work.”

Seneca Valley snapped a 4-4 tie in the fifth inning. Morgan Aloi beat out her third infield hit of the day, stole second, moved to third on an errant throw and scored on Kappeler’s grounder to second.

With one out, Kate Hickman walked. Tori Pfab laid down a sacrifice bunt and Hickman tried getting to third as Pfab was thrown out. The throw to third baseman Anna Heade beat her easily.

The Golden Tornado (1-3, 0-3) rallied from 3-0 and 4-3 deficits to tie the game twice. Two Seneca Valley errors aided a three-run Butler fourth.

McDonald doubled with one out and scored on an infield error to tie the game at four in the top of the fifth.

“We made four errors all season, then we made about four in the span of two innings,” Trew said. “But we overcame them.”

Both pitchers led their teams offensively. McDonald had a double, two singles and scored two runs for Butler. Nikki Matz had a single and three RBI for the Raiders. Her two-out RBI hit in the fourth snapped a 3-3 tie at the time.

Matz produced her other two RBI on ground-outs. She struck out five and did not walk a batter.

Julia Zezinka and Neill had two singles each for the Raiders to go with Aloi’s three hits.

Jen Miller and Heade had RBI singles for Butler, which played its first game in 10 days.

“Our girls were excited about this game today,” Troup said. “We need to get on the field and string a few games together.

“The girls have been sick of being stuck in the gym every day. We probably over-threw in there, we’ve gotten so much throwing in.”

Butler 000 310 0 — 4 8 2

Seneca Valley 201 110 x — 5 10 3

W: Nikki Matz 7IP (5K, 0BB). L: Emily McDonald 6IP (2K, 2BB).

Butler (1-3, 1-3): Hannah Hays 1B, Emily McDonald 2-1B 2B 2-R, Rachel Rebmann 1B, Jen Miller 1B RBI, Anna Heade 1B RBI, Kaitlin Barnett 1B

Seneca Valley (6-1, 6-1): Jess Neill 2-1B 2-SB, Marie Marnik 1B 2-R, Elayna Nagy 1B 2-SB, Nikki Matz 1B 3-RBI, Julia Zezinka 2-1B, Morgan Aloi 3-1B, Ashley Kappeler RBI

Today: Butler at Pine-Richland

Tuesday: Seneca Valley at Pine-Richland