NEFFS — Bellaire High second-year head coach Bailey McGrath has been waiting for a signature win from his young squad this spring.

Wait no longer.

It came in the form of a 3-2 triumph over reigning OHSAA D-III state runnerup Harrison Central at sun-drenched John Blacker Field Wednesday afternoon.

“This one is special. I can’t lie,” McGrath noted. “That is because of the respect I have for the Harrison Central program and its coach Mike Valesko. His resume is tremendous.”

“We are a young team. We only have two seniors,” added the former Bridgeport High three-sport standout. “We have experienced a lot of growing pains this season which is understandable with how young we are. But the kids have stayed focused, worked hard and continue to show improvement.”

Much of the credit for Bellaire’s fourth win of the campaign goes to Luke Heatherington. The junior dandy was sensational on the mound while also scoring the game’s winning run. He struck out five, walked one and yielded just three hits.

“Luke was excellent today. He is coming into his own,” McGrath said. “Luke is starting to take his pitching to the next level and that showed today.”

With the score knotted at 2-2 entering the home-half of the seventh, Heatherington took matters into his own hands and legs. He opened the frame by drawing a base on balls. He quickly stole second and moved to third on a passed ball. Heatherington came home with the game-winning run as the Huskies committed an error on a grounder.

Anthony Pelegreen was the hard-luck loser for the Huskies. He went the distance and pitched well enough to get a victory. Pelegreen allowed only five hits while fanning two and walking a like amount.

“We didn’t do the little things needed to do to win,” Valesko said. “We made too many base-running mistakes as well as defensive miscues.

The Huskies, with a roster void of a senior, dropped to 8-13.

Harrison scored both of its runs in the third inning.

Colten Rutter opened with a single before advancing on a Reed Arbaugh bunt. Gage Stoneking singled in Rutter. Kayden Dunkle followed with a single and was caught in a rundown, enabling Stoneking to score.

Bellaire got one run back in the home half of the third.

With one out, Hunter Watson singled. Heatherington followed with another single, moving Watson to third. Senior ace Chickie LaMotte plated Watson with a sac fly.

The Big Reds knotted the affair with a run in the sixth.

Heatherington crushed a double to left and scored on an error.

“This win will be a big confidence boost for this team,” McGrath. “A lot of them still do not realize the quality program we beat today.”