In the Palomino regionals, Lyndora wanted to prove it belonged.

The Butler summer league team received an automatic bid into the 10-team tournament it was hosting at Highfield Park in Butler.

The other nine teams, including local teams and teams from Washington, Pa., and Youngstown, Ohio, had to qualify by finishing high enough in the standings in the regular season.

Right off the bat it was evident this Lyndora team belonged in the regionals. Its performance also showed that it belonged in the Palomino East Zone Tournament. In the double-elimination format Lyndora did not lose a single game, blazing a trail to the title game where it defeated Springdale to win the regional title for the first time in program history.

The summer league season came to an end for Lyndora in the East Zone after losing a lead late in the game to North Allegheny and falling, 4-3.

The performance in the regionals was impressive for a number of reasons. Lyndora opened the tournament and closed the tournament against Springdale, one of the more talented teams in the area and a team that finished ahead of Lyndora in the regular-season standings.

In the first game Lyndora won, 5-2, and in the regional title game with Springdale needing to win twice, Lyndora took care of business in the first game with a 4-3 win. In between Lyndora edged Washington, 3-2, and a team from Youngstown, 6-4.

Veteran coach Ron Zawrotuk's team is composed mostly of kids from Butler Area High School and graduates of Butler with a year of collegiate experience.

"I think we surprised a lot of people in the regionals," Zawrotuk said.

"We just clicked at the right time. Some teams we thought were going to be ahead of us lost early and that put them behind the eight ball and they had to play catch up with us."

Zawrotuk was a former coach at Butler High. In two stints he coached the high school team a total of 16 years. He coached former major leaguer and current Butler boys' basketball coach Matt Clement. Zawrotuk's final year with the Butler varsity team was 2004.

In section games against North Allegheny Zawrotuk remembers the confidence the juggernaut Tigers teams would bring with them into games.

"In years past when we used to go play NA, they knew they weren't going to lose," Zawrotuk remembered.

"And that is what made NA so good. Those kids knew when they came to the ballyard they just weren't going to lose and that was the same attitude our kids had in the regionals. They weren't going to lose."

Motivation could always be an issue for a team that already has its postseason fate sealed, but Lyndora still finished the regular season 14-10 and in fourth place in the 13-team league.

"Those kids were playing for each other," Zawrotuk said.

"They were playing the right way and they were playing to get better. We did the little things. When we were in a tight ballgame, we made the pitcher work, we made him throw strikes. Everyone was a team player."

Palomino rules allow three college players who have completed their freshman years. Lyndora had 2008 Butler graduates Tim Geibel and Matt Maloy on the roster this year. Geibel, a pitcher at Wheeling Jesuit, was nursing a bad shoulder this summer and just played first base and designated hitter. Maloy plays at Saint Vincent College.

Lyndora's top two pitchers were recent Butler graduates Matt Monnie and Joey Marak.

At the plate, leadoff hitter Eric King jump-started the Lyndora offense. King started at second base and will play baseball at Thiel College.

Roman Bargo and Nick Bole, who will be seniors next year at Butler, came up with clutch hits throughout the summer. Bargo hit third in the lineup and Bole was the starting catcher.