Aviators Propel Past Centerville 11-1

VANDALIA - It didn’t feel like March in Ohio.

Seventy degrees. Sun overhead. The kind of afternoon that draws a crowd and breathes life back into a baseball field that has sat dormant through a long winter.

And for Butler, it showed.

By the time it was over, the Aviators had taken care of Centerville, 11–1, in their first look at the 2026 season. But like most preseason baseball, the score wasn’t the story as much as the way it came together.

They didn’t wait long.

Butler pushed across two runs in the first inning without needing much — a ball put in play, a walk, pressure applied early. It wasn’t loud offense, but it was effective, and it set a tone that never really let up.

From there, the innings settled into a rhythm that favored the home team. A run in the fourth. Another in the fifth. By the time the game moved into the late innings, Butler had created the kind of separation that turns a scrimmage into a chance to see depth.

And that may have been the most telling part of the afternoon.

Four pitchers combined to hold Centerville to a single run on six hits, and no one looked out of place doing it.

Tate Richardson started it, working the first couple of innings with enough command to keep traffic manageable, striking out four. Lucas Miller followed and gave Butler its longest look of the day — three innings, five strikeouts, and the only run Centerville would manage, unearned. Xander Hollander and Carson Perry closed it out cleanly, combining to allow just one hit over the final frames, while punching out three.

It wasn’t overpowering as much as it was steady. For this time of year, that matters more.

Offensively, Butler never needed a big inning, just consistent ones.

Davis Ketterer, hitting near the bottom of the order, quietly put together a two-hit day. Cooper Rife and Richardson each drove in a pair. Around them, Butler did what good early-season teams tend to do — they took what was given. Eight walks. Six stolen bases. Enough pressure to keep Centerville from ever settling in.

Aidan White reached base repeatedly and set that tone, drawing three walks and creating movement once he got there. White showed that he will again be a problem on the basepaths for teams this spring.

There were still signs of the calendar — but nothing lingered long enough to matter.

And for the first time out, that’s about as much as you can ask.

A start that didn’t feel rushed.

A game that stayed where it was supposed to.

And a team that looked eager being back on the field.