BUTLER TWP — North Catholic’s baseball team vows to not take any team lightly this postseason. Foes will surely not be overlooking the Trojans.

Having already locked up the Section 4-4A title, North moved its overall record to 12-5 with a 10-0, five-inning defeat of host Butler on Monday.

Last year, the Trojans earned the No. 4 seed in the WPIAL playoffs before getting knocked out by No. 13 Hopewell in the quarterfinals.

“People may wonder how a No. 4 can get beaten by a No. 13. It was pitching,” said North coach Andy Przybylek. “We know that on any given day, we can lose. No matter what the game is or what inning it is, our guys know they have one of three jobs at the plate — get on base, move somebody over or drive them in.”

North proved very capable of doing all three against the Golden Tornado. The Trojans collected 12 hits in the game and sent 14 batters to the plate in an 8-run fourth frame.

“The better the pitching is, the better we are as a lineup,” said North sophomore second baseman Owen Beatrice, who doubled twice and tallied three RBIs in the victory. “The harder it comes in, the harder it goes out.”

Beatrice doubled in his team’s first two runs of the game in the top of the first inning off Butler starter Nick Smiglewski. The former then drilled another two-bagger in the fourth to bring home Ryan Shantz, making it 8-0.

Butler (6-12) got a hit off North’s Tommy Schafale in each of the first three innings, but the senior left-hander quickly shut the Tornado down in each instance.

Schafale struck out 10 and walked one. He also led off for the Trojans at the plate, going 1-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.

“I believe he’s the best player in WPIAL Class 4A,” said Przybylek. “He moves the ball around, changes speed and most importantly, he throws strikes.”

Schafale is part of a senior class providing inspiration and direction to a team with no shortage of talent.

“Our seniors last year were great, but there was so few of them,” Beatrice said. “This year, there’s 11 of them and they’re giving us more leadership. Everybody seems to be more engaged this season.”

Also tallying two hits for North were Shantz, Blake Primrose and Ryker Kennedy.

Carson Bish took the mound for Butler in the top of the second. He blanked North for two innings before running into the buzz saw that was the Trojans’ fourth inning.

Aaron Lunn worked a scoreless fifth for Butler.

The Tornado will be competing in the upcoming WPIAL Class 6A playoffs. They will look to snap a 4-game losing streak when they host South Fayette on Wednesday.

“Carson normally starts for us and he has pitched well this year,” said Butler coach Josh Forbes of Bish. “It would be nice to start playing better, score some runs. But the important thing for us is that first playoff game (in a couple of weeks), find a way to win it and try to make a run.”

North Catholic 200 80x x — 10 12 0

Butler 000 00x x — 0 3 0

WP: Tommy Schafale 5 IP (10K, 1BB). LP: Nick Smiglewski 1 IP (0K, 2BB).

North Catholic: Tommy Schafale 1B 2R RBI, Tommy Koroly 1B R RBI, Ryan Shantz 2-1B 2R RBI, Blake Primrose 2-1B 2RBI, Owen Beatrice 2-2B 3RBI, Josef Safar 2B R RBI, Brady Koziara 1B R, Ryker Kennedy 2-1B R RBI

Butler: Boden Lenyk 1B, Nolan Stefaniak 1B, Andrew Lucas 1B

Tuesday: Mars at North Catholic

Wednesday: South Fayette at Butler