Ollio strikes out 12 as Butler baseball defeats Shaler

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, April 25, 2018 | 11:30 PM

While most WPIAL teams had cancellations on the baseball diamond Wednesday, Butler chose to move its game a mile up the road to the turf of Kelly Automotive Park and moved the 4 p.m. start back to 7.

Butler starting pitcher Connor Ollio wasted no time after the three-hour postponement. He struck out the side in the first inning en route to a 6-3 victory over Shaler. The win snaps a four-game losing streak for Butler.

“There's no real change (with the delayed start),” said Ollio, a North Carolina commit. “I just moved my preparation back a few hours. I have the same mindset all day, and was just ready to go.”

Ollio struck out 12 batters in 5 ²⁄₃ innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on five hits with no walks.

Butler sent nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning to break the game open, extending a two-run lead to a 5-0 margin. The Golden Tornado took advantage of four walks in the frame, and Colby Anderson made it hurt with a two-out, two-RBI single to give Butler the five-run advantage.

Shaler (3-3, 5-6) responded in the top of the sixth by sending nine batters of its own to the plate. The Titans finally got to Ollio the third time through the lineup, with a Hunter Jamison two-RBI single. The senior right-hander was pulled later in the inning after eclipsing the 100-pitch limit with two outs and Butler holding a 5-2 lead.

Relief pitcher Grant Metzger inherited two base runners, and quickly walked the first two batters he faced to narrow the margin to 5-3. Metzger was able to strike out Shaler's Jake Pollack with the bases loaded to end the threat.

“I knew whenever I give Grant the ball that we were going to get out of that inning,” Ollio said. “I have all of the confidence in our pitching staff.”

Ollio then provided a big insurance run when he belted a one-out triple to the center-field fence in the bottom of the sixth. Metzger then struck out, but the ball got away briefly from the catcher, Nick Rispoli. With the runner on third, Rispoli gunned the ball to first base to complete the strikeout. On the throw, Ollio broke for the plate and slid around the tag to extend the Butler lead to 6-3.

“When the catcher looked at me, he actually had me frozen,” Ollio said. “And when he picked up and threw the ball, I just had to get there.”

Metzger then retired the side in the seventh to pick up the save for Butler (4-3, 7-4).

With Butler sending its ace to the hill, Shaler was facing a difficult situation with its pitching staff. Jake Bredl and Patrick Gumto were both ineligible to pitch after their 100-pitch outing against North Allegheny on Monday. That game was suspended after 14 innings of play and is now scheduled to be resumed at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

Shaler coach Brian Junker threw everything but the kitchen sink at Butler, using five different pitchers, including starting catcher Jake Pollack, in the contest.

Four of those five pitchers, as well as Bredl and Gumto, are ineligible to throw tomorrow against North Allegheny. As of now, the entire staff is eligible to throw on Friday for their next section game against section-leading Central Catholic.

Butler has a chance to take advantage of a condensed schedule. It will travel to North Allegheny on Friday. The Tigers have the suspended game on Thursday against Shaler, then will face Seneca Valley immediately following in a contest suspended from Wednesday.

But first-year coach Cody Herald knows that, while this is a big win, there is still a big stretch ahead of his team.

“Any given day, that last-place team can beat the first-place team,” Herald said. “We just have to compete … and the most important thing, they have to trust each other, which I believe they do.”

What can be expected from Butler the rest of the way in a difficult Section 1?

“We will play hard,” Ollio said bluntly. “That's all I can promise you.”

James Dotson is a TribLive High School Sports Network broadcaster.

Tags: Butler, Shaler