Photo Provided Todd Cover, president and CEO of Belmont Savings Bank, far right, poses with his three sons after Wheeling Central won the Class AA state baseball championship. Pictured are, from left, Cover’s sons Seth, Erik and Brayden.

WHEELING — Todd Cover can find those “proud dad” moments in so many aspects of his life.

Of course, he finds them in the triumphs of his three sons, Erik, Seth and Brayden. He also finds them on the diamond as the head coach of the Wheeling Central Catholic baseball team — which just happened to win the Class AA state championship last weekend. And, as president and CEO of Belmont Savings Bank, he finds them as he watches his bank continue to grow with the help of the entire staff.

“You can find them every day,” he said.

Cover has a lot to juggle between being a dad and holding chief positions in both athletics and industry. He tries to approach them all from the same perspective — nurturing and helping others grow along their paths through life. And he leans on his experiences in fatherhood to do it.

Among those lessons from fatherhood, he said, is to not dig in and fight every battle. Find common ground, find points of grace and find places where, instead of arguing, just take it in stride.

“It’s made me a better person,” he said of that perspective, “because it allows me to see the other side.”

It also has allowed him to sit back and enjoy the successes he is a part of. He admits that, through his life, he has been a hard charger forward. Experience an accomplishment? OK, what’s next? These days, he’s spending more time appreciating those triumphs rather than immediately searching for the next hill to climb.

“Now, it’s like, OK, let’s just step back and enjoy this for a little bit little time,” he said, “Let’s relish in what we’ve accomplished before we move on to the next task. It’s basically shaped me as the person that I am today, because it has allowed me to see that there’s bigger things out there.”

Cover has seen plenty of success recently. His Maroon Knights captured the school’s first state baseball title since 2011 with a pair of shutout wins in the semifinals and championship game. It was a milestone he was able to share with all three of his sons. Seth was a senior on that title team who drove in three runs over the two games, while Brayden was a junior who recorded 14 strikeouts in pitching a one-hit shutout in the semis. And Cover’s oldest son Erik, who just concluded his collegiate baseball career at Muskingum University, was there at GoMart Ballpark in Charleston to watch it all happen.

It was a feeling of exhilaration to accomplish that feat, Cover said, especially with his sons there. But that feeling enveloped much more than just Erik, Seth and Brayden.

“I’ve coached, I’m going to say, seven or eight of those kids on that team since they were probably 7 years old,” Cover said. “So, they kind of also are like my sons. It’s just a really, really special bond to have with a lot of those kids on the team.

“That’s one of the reasons I really wanted to take this job, because I wanted to try to take the program and put it to the next level for those kids,” he added. “I’ve known most of them since they were able to swing a baseball bat.”

Those feelings also spill over into Cover’s professional life as president and CEO of Belmont Savings Bank. It was a “sleepy bank that no one really knew about” when he began his tenure 10 years ago this December. Since then, he and his staff have been able to boost the bank’s visibility and customer base. Belmont Savings sponsors the FunFest Fridays at Wheeling Park during the summer, and Cover was honored this past fall by the United Way of the Upper Ohio Valley with its Building A Better Community Award.

“Just to see us evolve to the point where I think everyone knows about us now, that’s a proud moment,” he said. “And there’s a lot of people that go into that. You know, we have 59 employees, and every single one of them has contributed to that.”

In the end, he said, his most important job is being there for his sons. Sometimes it’s to pick them up when they’re down. Sometimes it’s to provide some hard truths they may not want to hear. But it’s always about making sure they’re primed for success in their future.

“I’m going to be there for them no matter what,” he said, “no matter if it’s good things, bad things, I’m going to help them get through whatever they need to get through. I think they understand that.

“You try to step in and say, hey, you know I’m here for you,” he continued. “You may not want to talk about it right now, but I’m here for you whenever you do want to talk about it. And I think they know that deep down. I think they know that and appreciate that.”