Seneca Valley outlasts Butler on diamond in 2-1 win
JACKSON TWP — The staredown lasted seven innings.
Creed Erdos wasn’t going to be the one to blink.
The Seneca Valley backstop’s double to left center field in the bottom of the 11th inning scored the winning run in a 2-1 decision against Butler Friday evening. The triumph in the enduring tug-of-war for momentum set the host Raiders up for a potential WPIAL Section 1-6A baseball series sweep Saturday.
Both sides had only three hits through the initial seven frames as those on the mound shined through. Golden Tornado (9-7, 6-5) starter Madden Clement conceded just two base knocks and fanned eight in five innings of work, and SV’s Zachary Tkatch lasted seven frames and struck out nine.
“That was a well-fought game,” Raiders coach Eric Semega said. “Neither of us could get anything happening when we got people in scoring position. Plays were made on both ends and, to me, that’s actually what playoff baseball is going to be like ... That’s a great game for us knowing what’s going to be coming a couple weeks from now.”
SV (14-4, 7-4) scored early, tacking a run on in its half of the first after a misplayed fly ball hit by Hunter Troiano. That brought home Nick Parrotto, who reached on a free pass.
