CRESCENT — Matt Fouty was having the kind of day at the plate Sunday that hitters want to forget soon about. After laying down a sacrifice bunt in his first at-bat, he had struck out looking in his next two plate appearances. However, all of that was forgotten when he lined a 1-1 pitch back up the middle in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The one-out single scored pinch-runner Izaac Jozwiak with the winning run as Barton (7-3) halted a two-game losing skid with a 3-2 victory over visiting Moundsville in Ohio Valley Baseball League action on sun-baked Henning Field inside Pramesa Park. Both Fouty and Jozwiak are former Bridgeport High baseball performers.

“I just wanted to make contact at that point. I hadn’t had a real good game at the plate, so it felt good to get that hit,” Fouty said after being mobbed by his teammates.

For Jozwiak, sliding head-first across home plate with the winning run is becoming habit. Sunday marked the second time in a week he did so as he scored in the bottom of the eighth inning last Monday

“It feels amazing. I don’t get to do too much during the game because these guys are 3-4 years older than I am, but when I get my chance I make the most of it,” he said while shaking the dust off his uniform. “I’m glad I can to contribute.”

The loss was deja vu for the Expos. It was also their fourth in as many games with the Belmont Countians this summer.

“That’s three straight losses in nine innings. It’s been a tough stretch for us,” Moundsville (3-7) player/manager Matt Carnahan acknowledged. “We’ve played six straight games on the road, so we’ve got eight straight at home to end the regular season. Maybe we can get on a roll heading into the playoffs.”

The Expos have only played one home contest this season to COVID-19 restrictions in Marshall County. However, those limitations were lifted today and they will host Maynard tonight at the John Marshall High School diamond.

“This win was definitely for Billy (Timko),” Barton player/assistant manager Nick Koval said in reference to the Braves veteran manager who was attending his first game since successful open-heart surgery last Monday. “That was what you would call ‘win one for the skipper.'”

Moundsville scored both of its runs in the fourth when John Santamarino drove a triple to the fence in left-center. The Expos threatened in the top of the ninth when they put runners on first and second with one out only to see Barton shortstop-turned-reliever Colton Coss induce a foul popup and a line drive to left to end the inning.

“For the most part, I think we held their big guys in check. That’s a win right there,” Koval said of the Expos’ meat of their order which went 1-for-12. “Ben did a really good job and so did Colton in relief.”

Kaden Blomquist led off the bottom of the ninth with a solid single to right. Jozwiak replaced him on the basepaths and went to second on an Isaac Rine sacrifice bunt, one of seven n the tightly contested game. Aaron Marovich singled to left as Jozwiak stopped at third, setting the stage for Fouty.

Marovich had a single in the second and scored on a Dmitri Collaros two-out single. Collaros had scored the initial run in the first inning on a base hit by Coss.

Santamarino added a single to his triple.

Barton plays at Maynard on Wednesday and travels to Weirton Thursday.