Butler Battles, Falls Short Against Orange

LANCASTER — Even steel bends under enough pressure.

After four games in four days — including a sweep of rival Tippecanoe and a conference-clinching win under the lights — the Aviators ran into a different kind of test Saturday night: Division I #3 Olentangy Orange (19-3).

And for the first time this spring, the Aviators came up short.

Orange jumped out early and held off a late Butler rally, handing the Aviators a 5–3 loss in the finale of the Prep Baseball High School Spring Classic at Beavers Field — Butler’s first setback of the year.

The Pioneers scored twice in the first, two more in the second, and added one in the fourth — taking advantage of two Butler errors and a burst of aggressive baserunning. Their starter, Nick Liberati, kept the Aviators quiet through five, striking out 10 and walking just one.

But it never felt over.

Down 5–0, Butler began to chip away in the fourth. A run scratched across. Then two more in the sixth — Paxton Dwenger singled, Mason Reckner drove in another, and Tate Richardson worked a bases-loaded walk to pull within two.

They had the tying run at the plate. And for a team running on fumes after a week-long gauntlet, the effort was anything but empty.

Jackson Schilling was brilliant in relief, tossing five innings of one-hit ball, striking out five and walking just one. He kept the Pioneers right where they were and gave Butler a chance to climb back in.

Dwenger finished 2-for-2. Five different Aviators had hits. And while it wasn’t their cleanest game, it was another reminder of what this team is forged from.

The 20-game win streak is over. But Butler (20–1, 15–0 MVL) returns home Monday against Stebbins — tested, focused, and every bit as dangerous as they’ve been all spring.

This one didn’t end their season. It sharpened it.