The Vandalia Butler Aviators’ baseball team is flying high, well above the radar, with a 25-3 record, a third straight GWOC North title, and a district final spot Saturday against Springboro at Miamisburg High School. First pitch is 2 p.m.
This team has it all. Like a hot fudge sundae, Butler hits for power, slaps it around, scores runs, plays defense, and with a Taylore Cherry on top – can pitch.
Butler assembled a 16-game win streak during the regular season. Cincinnati Moeller snapped it with a come-from-behind 6-3 victory. Since then, the Aviators have bounced back with six straight wins, including two over Centerville and a 7-2 win over Cincinnati Elder last Saturday.
A huge contribution to Butler’s success has been towering right-handed pitcher Taylore Cherry, considered Ohio’s top prospect and rated fourth nationally by Perfect Game. The 6′ 9″ junior fireballer has already committed to North Carolina.
On the season, Cherry boasts a 6-1 record, pitching 51 innings with 88 strikeouts and a 0.96 ERA.
But it hasn’t always been a “bowl of cherries” for the ace hurler. During his freshman and sophomore seasons he struggled with control and was as wild as an evil stepchild. Despite a respectable 9-5 record, Cherry walked 57 batters and plunked another 31 his first two seasons with a 3.53 ERA.
Through hard work over the summer, Cherry no longer is a “rear back and wing it as hard as possible” kind of pitcher. Now, he has an arsenal of pitches – a four-seam and two-seam fastball clocked at 92 mph, a wicked curve ball, and a change up.
Cherry isn’t the only ace on the team as junior Kyle Fain (7-1) and senior Trey Hafer (6-0) comprise a starting rotation that has accounted for 155 strikeouts.
On offense, Butler is equally dangerous, scoring 268 runs, tops in the conference, an average of 9.5 runs per game.
Junior catcher Lance Straley leads the GWOC in home runs with eight and RBIs with 40. He is batting .400 with 10 stolen bases.
Another junior, Dan Link has five HRs, 35 RBIs, and is hitting .414.
Nathan Barlow leads the team in runs scored and hits with 41 and 40, respectively.
And so, if any team can challenge the Cincinnati private schools for D I supremacy, the Butler Aviators have all the hot fudge sundae ingrediants to pull it off.
