T-L Photo/KIM NORTH MARTINS FERRY’S Jaden Stalder (5) slides under the tag of Bellaire third baseman Tayah Frazier during Wednesday’s game high atop the Purple City. The Purple Riders won, 5-3, to keep the Dibbyball Trophy.

MARTINS FERRY — The Dibbyball Trophy will once again reside in the Purple City.

For the third straight year — the fifth time in six contests — Martins Ferry has defeated rival Bellaire in the Duane Powell Memorial game for the coveted statue. The Purple Riders claimed a 5-3 decision Wednesday under sun-filled skies on the Rider Little League Baseball Field adjacent to Ayers Elementary School.

The Big Reds lone win in the series came in 2016.

“Dibbyball is pretty important to us. We’re glad to have (assistant coach) Peri (Powell) back on the staff with us,” Martins Ferry head coach Paige Williams said. “She means a lot to us and always has, but to have her back on our staff means a whole lot.

“These kids know how much this game means to the program,” Williams continued. “They were excited to get the ‘W.’ It means a lot.”

Duane Powell was a former Big Red athlete who married a Martins Ferry resident.

The Purple Riders (1-1) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Sidne Sidon laced a one-out double to the left field corner and went to third on a wild pitch. With the count 2-1 on winning pitcher Abby Bumbico, Williams called for a suicide-squeeze and Bumbico delivered a perfect bunt as Sidon slid in safely ahead of the tag.

Bumbico, after breezing through a 4-pitch first inning, escaped a bases-loaded situation in the second with one out. The senior induced a grounder to third that Jaden Stalder touched the bag for the second out, and then retired the next batter on a routine grounder to Stalder.

Martins Ferry, which had six hits in the game, bunched half of them together in the bottom of the fourth in building a 3-0 margin. Freshman Lauren McFarland singled leading off and went to second on Sydni Trudo’s sacrifice bunt. Stalder looped a two-out single to right that plated McFarland and Stalder raced around the bases when Haleigh Boyer blasted a triple to deep right.

Bellaire (1-2) sliced into the deficit when Katrina Davis sent a line drive over the fence with one out and a teammate aboard in the fifth.

The Big Reds could have had a bigger inning if not for a defensive gem by rightfielder Aubrey Braun. With a runner on first and one out, the Purple Riders committed a throwing error at second base. However, Braun was backing up the play and rifled a laser to Stalder at third to nail the runner trying to move up 60 feet.

“Aubrey made a great play backing up and made an even better throw,” Williams acknowledged.

Bumbico atoned for the roundtripper she allowed with she lifted a flyball to deep left that carried over the fence for a two-run shot in the bottom of the fifth that restored the three-run margin at 5-2.

“She said she needed to get it back,” Williams said of Bumbico. “We told the girls that perseverance is key. When you make a mistake you have to make up for it. That’s important and they showed a lot of character and a lot of fight today. It wasn’t a crisp game by any means, but it was a win.”

Bellaire was threatening in the sixth and had runners on first and third when Stalder fielded a smash to third. Instead of making the throw, the junior faked and the bit of deception was just enough to catch the Big Reds runner on third in a rundown for the second out.

“I’m not going to lie. Jaden faked me out with that fake throw,” Williams admitted. “I was just wanting an out. I wanted her to throw to second, but she ended up making a very good play that got a big out.”

Losing pitcher Andrea Booker followed with an RBI single that made it 5-3.

“What a 360 (turnaround) from this weekend,” Bellaire head coach Melissa Lahna said. “I thought Kaitlyn Kosky played a really good first base for never playing there before.

“It’s a game of inches,” she said about softball. “Anything we hit was right at them. We hit it hard and they stick a glove out and catch it or it was right to them.

“I thought Booker pitched another really good game. We cleaned up the errors, but we’ve got to quit leaving the bases loaded. We discussed all that. It’s coming. I have faith in them.”

Bumbico drove in three runs and struck out three with a walk. She scattered seven hits.

Booker fanned six and didn’t walk a batter. She allowed half-a-dozen safeties, which included the cycle.

The two teams play again today at St. Joe.

GAME NOTES

∫ Since the game’s inception in 2014, more than $12,000 has been raised and a dozen scholarships have been awarded.

∫ Martins Ferry will, for the time being, play its home games on the Little League field. Work is ongoing on their home field.