MAYNARD BASERUNNER B.A. Holloway (4) beats Martins Ferry shortstop Kaleb Baire to second base during Sunday afternoon’s Ohio Valley Baseball League game high atop the Purple City. Looking on is River Dogs’ second baseman Mike Rogers (99). The Indians rallied for a much-needed 5-4 victory.

MARTINS FERRY – With only nine players in uniform for Sunday’s Ohio Valley Baseball League game against Martins Ferry high atop the Purple City, Maynard manager/player David Vicker had plenty to think about when making out his lineup card. Then, before the pencil lead had a chance to smudge, he had to change it and put himself in as the starting pitcher.

However, the wily 34-year-old veteran kept his team in the game while working into the fourth inning before Korey Beckett came in and, after walking a batter to load the bases, slammed the door with inning-ending back-to-back strikeouts of River Dogs players, both of the looking variety.

The Indians (9-8) then scored three times in the top of the fifth to take a 5-4 lead that Beckett, a recent Shadyside grad, would protect for the win in relief.

Vicker put himself on the mound just after the starting lineup was announced. He said scheduled starter Caden Price didn’t feel right warming up, so Price went to first base, which was a key move, and Corey Vicker was inserted in right field.

“This was a big win today. We had a skeleton crew here today,” David Vicker said. “Everybody had a piece in it (the win) today. That’s what we needed.”

With the come-from-behind victory, Maynard remains in the hunt for the No. 2 or No. 3 seed, thus avoiding the one-game playoff with the between Nos. 4-5. The Indians still have three games remaining — all against Belmont County rival Barton. They meet in Maynard on Wednesday and then in Crescent on Friday. The Braves also host league-leading Moundsville tonight before visiting West Liberty to face Wheeling, which is also in the Nos. 2-3 race.

The defending champion Indians led 1-0 after Matt Busby scored from first on Beckett’s single to right that was misplayed.

Price snared a line drive with a Martins Ferry runner on first that resulted in the first of two double-dips on the day by the Indians.

The River Dogs (4-12) took a 3-1 advantage in the bottom of the third against Vicker. a one-out walk to No. 9 hitter Anthony Coggins ignited the uprising. Coggins went to second on a Mike Rogers single to right. Kobe Hill’s single to left loaded the bases and Matt Brncic brought in two runs with a single over short. Hill was then erased as a Dom Wallace one-hopper to third was thrown to the plate by Hunter Westlake and the tag was applied by a diving Maynard catcher B.A. Holloway for the second out. Chase Goff then reached on an error, but Maynard left fielder Tyler Tonkovich made a sliding snag of a foul ball down the line.

Maynard cut into the deficit in the fourth as Holloway and Tonkovich both reached on consecutive infield singles leading off. After a walk to Klay Cottis loaded the bases, David Vicker singled softly to make it 3-2.

Martins Ferry added a run to its margin in the bottom of the inning when it chased Vicker from the hill. Back-to-back walks to Brendan Baire and Tyler Starvaggi preceded an RBI double by Rogers for a 4-2 reading.

Beckett came on struck out five, walked four but did not yield a base hit.

“Korey came in and saved the manager their,” Vicker said of Beckett. “He did a nice job of cleaning up the mess I made.”

The River Dogs were guilty of two errors, both of which ended up hurting.

“The bottom line is you’ve got to make the plays,” a frustrated Martins Ferry manager Andy Sutak admitted. “We gave away a couple of early runs by not making those plays.

“We can’t seem to get a break, and when we make a mistake the opponent always seems to take advantage of it,” he added.