ELM GROVE — The third time was definitely a charm for Wheeling Sunday on the sun-soaked Wheeling University baseball diamond at the J.B. Chambers I-470 Complex.

After serving as bridesmaids the last two summers to Maynard, the Cardinals (15-10) rallied from a 3-2 deficit by scoring five times in the bottom of the sixth en route to a 7-4 victory and a 3-1 best-of-5 nod over Barton in Game 4 of the Ohio Valley Baseball League’s championship series.

The victory is the first for the Cardinals’ organization since 2019 when they also defeated the Braves (14-11). They re-located to Moundsville for the 2020 season and became the Expos. Many of the players on this year’s Cardinals team came into the league that season, as well.

“We got hot when it mattered late in the regular season and we carried it over into the playoffs,” Series MVP Jarrod Jones said. “Everybody kind of bought in and realized we were playing for something bigger.”

Manager Scott Shaw said, “we had a lot of experience playing in the finals and I think that showed. Barton had a great team. They led the league for most of the season. We could’ve folded there when they took the lead, but the guys showed some fortitude and got the job done because of that experience.”

Trailing 3-2 after top-seeded Barton plated a pair of runs in the top of the sixth on an RBI infield single by Cooper Blackburn and a wild pitch that allowed Zach Smith to sprint home, Wheeling sent 10 batters to the plate in the home half of the sixth, with five of them scoring. Jones drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at 3 and Sonny Peluchette’s fielder’s choice got the eventual game-winner across. Tyler Haskins punctuated the outburst – and the series – with a mammoth three-run blast deep to right for a 7-3 advantage.

Barton scored a run in the top of the seventh on a Ben Wach sacrifice fly, but Logan Bennett, the fourth Wheeling pitcher of the day, got a foul out to Haskins behind the plate and a grounder to second to end the game.

“We have a lot of guys that have been through the last two seasons, we have a few new guys but over half the team returned,” Shaw continued. “They felt the pain of losing twice in sweeps and they worked hard to get better.”

Wheeling took a 2-0 lead in its first at bat as Jones doubled to left-center leading off. Haskions walked with one out. Jones raced home on a wild pitch with Dylan Gongola at the plate. Gongola then lofted a single to shallow left that drove in Haskins.

Barton cut the margin in half as Blackburn scored on a wild pitch with two-out in the fifth when they chased Jones from the mound. The seldom-used righty did just what Shaw wanted, eat up some innings.

“Jarrod Jones did it all,” Shaw proclaimed. “He really, really begged to get the ball today. He had only pitched twice this year. Today was the third. I gave him the ball and he came through.”

Jones struck out one, walked one, surrendered a trio of singles and gave up just one run in four-plus innings. He threw 53 pitches, of which 29 were strikes.

“Just going out there and being competitive,” the Wheeling Park and Fairmont State graduate said of his mindset entering the game. “We kind of let one slip away the other night in Barton. We knew coming into today being on our field was the most important thing. A lot of us have been playing in this (championship series) for the last three years and we wanted to win this year.

“I’m a big competitor and I knew when I went out there on the mound today I had a job to do,” Jones added. “They started to hit the ball and I told (manager) Scott to get me out of there because I didn’t want to blow the game for us.”

Veteran Barton manager Billy Timko was proud of the way his team battled, but also gave credit where credit was due.

“We came back strong and showed some character again,” Timko said. “Congratulations to Wheeling. They’ve been knocking on the door the last couple of seasons. They finally put a nice team together. They deserve it.”

Jones hit .357 with a single, two doubles, a pair of home runs, drove in four runs, scored five times and drew a pair of walks. He also played flawlessly at first base.

Josh Schramm, who led the way with eight hits in the series, singled twice. He was the only Wheeling hitter with more than one. Gongola, the third Wheeling pitcher, earned the win. He also recorded two RBI.

Wach, who missed the first three games while preparing for the OVAC Rudy Mumley All-Star Football Game, had two singles. Zach Winland tripled in the seventh.