CRESCENT — After an 0-2 start on the road in which it scored just four runs, Barton made its home debut a successful one Friday night.

The Braves took an early lead against visiting Shadyside in Ohio Valley Baseball League action, but they had to rally for a 7-5 decision on henning Field.

For the second game in a row, Barton scored three times in the first inning as Colton Coss singled home Shane Smolenak with one out. Coss would score on Niko Petrides’ triple to left-center. Petrides raced home on a groundout by Matt Withrow.

“We just can’t seem to stand prosperity, but the guys battled back and we won the game. That’s all that matte

rs,” Barton manager Billy Timko said. “We’re still missing a few guys with injuries and we had a couple others miss tonight due to graduations. We’ll be alright.”

The Braves made it 4-0 in the second when Smolenak walked with one out and stole second. He came around to score on Nik Bilyeu’s single to right.

Shadyside (1-2) got one run back in the third as Kraig Kubancik’s two-out single to left plated Cody Hudson.

The Casketmakers took the lead, momentarily, in the fourth when they tallied four runs on just one hit. Four Barton errors helped out. Kubancik’s run-scoring single, once again with two down, chased home Cody Hudson to make it 5-4.

Barton came right back and knotted things at 5 in the bottom of the frame. Derick Smith drew a leadoff walk and went to second on Matt Gruber’s sacrifice. A wild pitch moved Smith to third where he scored on a throwing error.

An RBI single by Ketter with one-out in the fifth proved to be the game-winning hit as Petrides, who reached on an error leading off, scored. Gruber’s infield single with the bases loaded made it 7-5.

Gruber, a former Wheeling Central product and current West Liberty Hilltopper, went the distance on the mound. The righty struck out four, walked a trio and hit two. He threw 116 pitches, of which 81 went for strikes.

“Matt did a great job for us. He struggled a little there in the fourth, but he gutted it out and got the job done,” Timko praised. “We needed that (complete) game.”

Ketter and Coss each had a pair of base hits for the winners, with six different Braves recording runs batted in.

Shadyside had its chances, especially in the second when it loaded the bases. However, Logan Hudson got picked off second to end the inning.

“That was my fault. I’ll take the blame for that mental error,” he admitted. “I was talking to the umpire and then boom. But we had a lot of other mental errors. It just wasn’t one, but like I just told the guys, it’s still early in the season. We’ve got the same lineup that won us the championship last year, so there’s no time to panic.”

Michael Finch suffered the loss. The lefty fanned four, but walked half-a-dozen and hit one. Cody Hudson had a trio of singles for the Casketmakers. Kubancik singled twice and drove in two. B.A. Holloway had an RBI.

Barton remains at home Sunday as rival Maynard visits for a 1 p.m. first pitch. Shadyside’s game set for Sunday with Wheeling has been postponed.