BARNESVILLE — As the days were winding down the cut-off mark for the OVAC Class 3A baseball tournament, all veteran Linsly head coach Jay Cartwright wanted to do was get into the 4 four-team playoffs.

His fourth-seeded Cadets (13-7) accomplished that, finishing fourth and pairing up with No. 1 Barnesville in semifinal action on Monday. Now, they will play for the 24th championship against city rival Wheeling Central after stunning top-seeded Barnesvillle, 9-3, on the sun-drenched Memorial Park diamond in western Belmont County. Should they win and defend their title, they would tie Steubenville for the most OVAC baseball crowns.

Although not set in stone, according to OVAC Baseball Commissioner Bill Beattie, the Wheeling Central-Linsly game is tentatively set for Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Edison Unified Sports Complex in Richmond.

“Our goal was always to just get a shot. We just wanted to get in the tournament and get a chance,” Cartwright said. “I think our guys appreciated that tonight. They threw a good arm at us. They are a good team and to come out here and beat them on their own field. They make you earn it and our kids did that tonight.”

Linsly took advantage of four Barnesville errors for five unearned runs, including three in the top of the fifth on no hits. With the Cadets clinging to a 1-0 lead, Nathan Berhalter singled to start the inning. He was bunted to second by Chris Upton and, after Carson Gessler walked, Berhalter raced home when a grounder to the right side by Rocco Paolina was thrown wildly to first with Gessler advancing to third and Paolina taking second. With two out, Murray reached on an error to load the bases. Andrew Skadra’s screamer to third was bobbled then thrown off the mark to first as Gessler and Paolina both scored for a 4-0 reading.

Barnesville, which entered the game ranked No. 7 in the Ohio Baseball Coaches Association Division III poll, cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the inning as Duker Castello coaxed bases-loaded walk from winning pitcher Dillon Wilson to end the senior’s night on the mound as Ayden VanHorn scored. Paolina came on in relief and promptly walked Max Miller to make it 4-2 as Casey Carpenter touched the plate. Paolina induced a fielder’s choice to end the rally.

A pair of sparkling defensive plays by the Shamrocks in the sixth kept them in the game. Second baseman Reese Stephen fielded a grounder that glanced off of pitcher Jaxon Wiley’s glove and threw the runner out at first. Then, left fielder Taison Starr made a diving catch of a sinking liner in left to end the inning.

Linsly recorded one-third of its nine hits in the seventh inning, and combined with another Barnesville error, tacked on five insurance tallies. Skadra had a sacrifice fly that chased in a run, while Berhalter walked with the bases loaded and Upton singled to center to score a pair.

“Our pitchers have had our backs all year and I told the guys that we needed to help our pitchers out,” the Linsly coach added. “They have bailed us a lot this year.”

Barnesville scored an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh for the final.

Wilson struck out five, walked three and gave up two hits. He threw 67 pitches, but only 38 for strikes, and pitched into the fifth before giving way to Paolina.

“Dillon got a little tired there so we got him out after he gave up a couple of runs,” Cartwright noted. “He has caught his whole career, but we had a couple arm injuries and were looking for a pitcher, and we found one. He’s been great for us. He understands pitching because he has caught so much.”

Barnesville head coach D.J. Butler, like most coaches, accepted the blame for his team’s lackluster effort.

“The kids worked so hard all season to get the No. 1 seed and I didn’t have us ready to play. That’s on me,” he said. “You can’t fault the kids. They played their butts off.”