NIWOT >> Don’t let Kianna Butler’s ingenuous smile fool you on the softball field. She’s imagining putting you into her pitching blender.

The Niwot senior has thrown like an all-state pitcher through the first month of the fall season — and it’s a major reason why the Cougars can imagine big things in their near future.

Second in the state in strikeouts, her swing-and-whiff stuff was on full display in a 7-0 win over Monarch on Tuesday afternoon.

“I think she feels more at home here now,” Niwot coach Bobby Matthews said of his ace, who moved from Arizona to Niwot last year. “She’s been going at it in the weight room, lifting weights. She’s stronger. And the other part is she’s just more comfortable.”

Butler fanned 13, extending her shutout streak to 15 innings for the Cougars (9-3, 5-1 5A/4A/3A Granite Peaks League), who won their seventh-straight game. Her earned-run average is now miniscule 0.96 across 65 1/3 frames, which is also among the best in Colorado.

“She doesn’t let batters figure out her pattern,” senior catcher Saleen Amaya said. “She changes it up. Different movements and different locations. She’s always throwing something different.”

Against Monarch (7-9, 2-4) — a program that already has more wins than it did in 2023, when it finished 6-17 — Butler was at her best when it looked the worst.Whether it was with the bases loaded with one out in the first inning, or after allowing the first two runners to reach in the fifth, she simply patted herself to take blame, and smiled.

That’s usually the cue that she’s about to get herself out of another jam, her teammates and coaches say.

“It’s more like she’s smiling, saying, ‘You have no idea what’s coming,’” Matthews said, unable to hold back a grin of his own. “Like, ‘This is over. That was fun. Now it’s time to stop it.’”

Butler’s second-straight seven-inning shutout gave her a seventh-straight win in the circle. At 9-2, her 116 strikeouts are second only to Lyons’ Gretta Wynja in the state (though she’s pitched 15 2/3 fewer frames).

“I really enjoy Saleen behind the plate. We’re two peas in a pod,” Butler said as she grasped her catcher’s hand. “We have the best time together, even if the bases are loaded. And I trust my defense, too.”

Butler’s strong start to 2024 comes after a strong debut with Niwot last fall.

As a junior, she went 15-6 in the circle, touting a 2.68 ERA as the Cougars — behind the big bats of Autumn Rutherford and Anne Booth, who both graduated — reached the opening round of the 4A postseason.

As a senior, she’s at the forefront of the Cougars’ best start since 2012, when they went on to finish runner-up in 4A.

“Top eight” in the class is the goal as it stands, she and her catcher said after Tuesday’s win.

Niwot is at Horizon (6-8, 2-3) on Thursday, while Monarch is home against 5A No. 4 Broomfield (16-0, 7-0).