Northeast Lauderdale Trojan team members wait at the plate to congratulate Brock Butler on his three-run home run against St. Stanislaus Saturday afternoon.

On prom night, the Northeast Lauderdale baseball team didn’t want to just win and advance, but win in a timely fashion.

Freshman Brock Butler — who, ironically, can’t go to prom unless an upperclassman takes him as a date — made sure both would happen, as he tosses 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball to help the Trojans beat St. Stanislaus 7-1 Saturday afternoon in less than two hours of game time.

The win earned the Trojans (21-9) a sweep in the second round of the MHSAA Class 4A playoffs, and head coach Josh Snider couldn’t praise Butler enough for getting a win in what was perhaps the team’s biggest game to date this season.

This is one of the biggest games Northeast has seen in a long time, and for a freshman to come in and do that is unbelievable,” Snider said. “It’s really just awesome.”

It wasn’t just Butler’s pitching that helped his team. At the plate, he was a perfect 3-for-3 with four RBIs and a run scored.

“I was calm,” Butler said. “I knew it was a huge game and that I had to pitch well to win it, so I just threw strikes.”

After a scoreless top of the first, Butler came up to bat in the bottom of the frame with two on and helped his cause by jacking a three-run home run to give Northeast Lauderdale an early lead. After holding St. Stanislaus scoreless again for two more innings, Butler laced an RBI double in his second at-bat of the game to extend the Trojans’ advantage to 4-0 in the bottom of the third.

“I want to help myself as much as I can, so I just tried to get it in play and get some RBIs going for us,” Butler said.

Butler was shaky in the fifth and sixth innings, allowing several baserunners, but the only St. Stanislaus run of the game came in the top of the fifth when Sunny Valentine had an RBI to cut the lead to 4-1. Otherwise, Butler was able to work out of his jams and even got two outs in the seventh before being relieved by Chase Moore. Butler finished with 10 strikeouts while surrendering just one run on three hits.”

“He’s gotten the job done all year,” senior third baseman Dalton Rogers said of Butler. “I don’t think anyone out here doubted him.”

Said senior catcher Luke Harper, “He’s a fighter, I can tell you that. He’s stepped up big-time this year with the stick and on the mound. I’m really proud of him.”

Northeast Lauderdale scored some insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning when Braxton Lee belted a two-run home run that also scored Butler and Harper grounded into an RBI fielder’s choice. After Butler got two outs in the top of the seventh, he walked a man, prompting Snider to bring in Moore to close the game. Moore got the next St. Stanislaus batter to fly out, securing the Trojans’ trip to the third round.

Rogers finished 2-for-4 to join Butler as the team’s only multiple hitters.

THE RIGHT APPROACH

Snider said he’s been impressed with his team’s approach, especially late in the season, calling it one of their biggest keys to success.

“We’ve been hit hard with some adversity,” Snider said. “We’re beat up right now. Landon Harper’s out with an elbow issue, and our starting right fielder went out with an appendectomy, but we’ve had some guys step up. The approach we’re taking to the game right now is really fun to watch, and I couldn’t be more proud of them. Some guys that struggled a little bit through the year have stepped up and taken the spots and have done their job. This is team baseball right here. These few games we’ve won lately, everyone has contributed.”

Snider described that approach as both intense, yet relaxed and confident.

“It’s just hard-nosed,” Snider said. “Play the game hard. Respect the game. Don’t be scared, don’t be timid. Don’t be scared to make a mistake, just go play. We’re having fun, and that’s the big part.”

A GOOD FEELING

Both Luke Harper and Rogers said there’s a lot of confidence heading into the third round in the team’s clubhouse.

“Everyone is just optimistic, because we’ve been playing pretty well lately,” Rogers said. “We all just have this energetic feeling when we come out here, that we know we can win every time we step onto the field.”

Luke Harper said the players have taken Snider’s advice about having fun and playing relaxed.

“We have all the confidence in the world right now,” Luke Harper said. “Honestly, we’re just having fun. We’re not really thinking about too much, like the third round of who we’re playing, we’re just thinking about having fun, swinging the sticks and playing ball.”

He did admit, however, that prom did cross his mind at least once.

“I did there at the end, I’m not going to lie, but (otherwise), not really,” Luke Harper joked.

UP NEXT 

Northeast Lauderdale will play the winner of the Northeast Jones-North Pike series in a three-game set beginning Friday.