Butler manager Cody Herald had never seen anything like it in all the time he's been involved with baseball.

“It's almost unheard of,” Herald said.

Butler stranded 15 runners on base — 10 in scoring position — and left the bases loaded three times in a 12-0 loss to Lafayette Sunday afternoon in the third and decisive game of the Prospect League championship series.

The 12-0 score was misleading. The BlueSox trailed only 2-0 in the bottom of the eighth inning and had the bases loaded again with one out, but couldn't push across a run.

BlueSox hitters were 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position and 0-for-6 with the bases loaded.

Instead, the BlueSox had to watch as the Aviators scored 10 runs in the top of the ninth inning and then Lafayette players celebrate the championship on the Kelly Automotive Park field after winning two straight there.

Five walks and a slew of wild pitches and passed balls led to many of those 10 runs.

But this game came down to clutch hitting.

Or the lack thereof.

“It was the difference of timely hitting,” Herald said. “We had the bases loaded (three times) with one out or less, and we couldn't find a way to get things done. Usually when that happens once, you'll never see it again. But it happened to us repeatedly.”

The Butler struggles with runners on base was just one of many odd things in the decisive game of the Prospect League season.

The teams used 11 pitchers — Butler used four in the top of the ninth alone — and combined to issue 18 walks.

Sam Hubbe got the win, tossing three scoreless innings in relief of Lafayette starter Alex Moore, who loaded the bases with no one out in the fifth.

Hubbe, though, was able to get a pair of shallow fly outs and then fanned Kristian Webb looking to end another Butler threat.

Webb argued the call and was ejected, leaving Butler with just two healthy outfielders because of injuries to Calvin Scott and Ben Carew. That forced relief pitcher Jamie Switalski into service in right field.

Josh LaPiana got the loss, despite pitching five-plus strong innings.

He struck out six and walked four. The left-hander surrendered a towering two-run home run in the top of the second inning to Evan Kennedy that barely got over the right field wall. That proved to be all the runs the Aviators really needed.

“I don't think it was a bad pitch,” Herald said. “I don't think that hitter got all of it. If he could make that pitch again, I don't think he'd change it.”

LaPiana settled down after the homer, allowing just one baserunner until the fifth and retired 11 in a row at one point.

Meanwhile, the Butler offense, which had been potent most of the season, sputtered.

The BlueSox left two more runners stranded in the seventh and the bases loaded for the third time in the game in the eighth — their last real chance to change momentum.

“It was unbelievable what our pitchers were able to do out there,” said Lafayette manager Brent McNeil. “It just shows you the focus we had. Our guys were able to get out of bad, bad situations, and there were many of them.”

Lafayette, in only its second season in existence, became the first team in Prospect League history to lose the opening game of the championship series and come back to win the title.

The Aviators were 30-30 in their first season.

“Last year was a year of kind of learning about things,” McNeil said. “This year was, 'Hey, get good players and everything will take care of itself.' We got some good, talented players in here.”

For Butler, the loss stung.

Still, fans were on their feet during the final at-bats of the season, despite the 12-0 score.

It was the first appearance in the championship series for Butler, which was 18-18 at one point during the regular season before rolling off a 19-5 record down the stretch to finish with the best record in the league, one game ahead of Lafayette.

The BlueSox swept West Virginia to reach the championship series and bludgeoned the Aviators in Game 1 on the road, 14-1.

But they couldn't get one more win.

Herald was named manager of the team only 26 days before the start of the season.

“I'm proud of our guys,” Herald said. “They did a good thing for this city and gave everything they had.

“They were a bunch of guys from all over who came together as a team,” Herald added, “and fought together until the end.”

Game 3-Prospect League Finals

Lafayette 020 000 00(10) — 12 9 1

Butler 000 000 000 — 0 5 0

W: Sam Hubbe 3IP (3K, 1BB). L: Josh LaPiana 5IP (6K, 4BB).

Lafayette: Brian Sharp 1B RBI, Cory Heffron 1B 2-RBI, Logan Beaman 1B, Dougie Parks 2B RBI, Evan Kennedy HR 2B 3-RBI, Trey Bridis 1B RBI, Jawan McAllister RBI, Noah McGowan 1B 2B RBI

Butler: Stefan Mrkonja 1B, Pavin Parks 2B 1B, Patrick Ferguson 1B, Justin Kirkpatrick 1B