Photo by Nick Henthorn The Barnesville Shamrocks’ Peyton Loudin throws a pitch during the Shamrocks’ 3A OVAC semifinal against the Wheeling Central Maroon Knights on Thursday inside the I-470 JB Chambers Sports Complex. The Knights prevailed to advance to the championship game on Saturday.

WHEELING — They say good things come to those who wait- and after having their OVAC 3A semifinal delayed from Tuesday to Thursday due to inclement weather, the saying held true for the Wheeling Central Maroon Knights.

Central senior pitcher Josie Frizzell put together a 15-strikeout no-hitter, and the Maroon offense put up runs aplenty in a 13-0 conference tournament victory over the Barnesville Shamrocks inside the I-470 JB Chambers Sports Complex.

With the win, Central will face Martins Ferry for the 3A OVAC title on Saturday at 1 p.m. inside the I-470 Complex.

After adding another gem to her resume, Frizzell- the reigning OVAC 3A Player of the Year- is hoping she can keep it going in the finals.

“I had a couple of really good pitches I was proud of today, the way they were moving and the spin I had,” Frizzell said. “I’d been fighting with that, kind of all season, so it worked out today. Ava [Hanson] was really good behind the plate, we were talking a lot. It feels good to have a whole season kind of coming full circle so I’m really excited and hopefully everything is working the same [Saturday].”

Barnesville’s Chaela Smolira drew a walk for the Shamrocks, and Kylee Powell reached on a dropped third strike, the pair the only blemishes for the Central defense.

“We’ll take that every day,” Wheeling Central head coach Buck Davidson said.

Wheeling got on the scoreboard in the first inning off of an RBI knock from Maddie Miehle, and added to their lead in every inning except the sixth.

“Josie pitched well and we’re starting to hit the ball up and down the lineup,” Davidson said. “Once we start doing that we’re going to be tough to beat, if we can keep putting the ball in play and getting quality pitching from Josie and Liv Kiaski.”

It was the third meeting of the season between Central and Barnesville, familiarity that Davidson thinks may have worked as an advantage for his team.

“I think today it was an advantage- the first two times we played them we did not hit the ball like we did tonight,” Davidson said. “Seeing their pitchers for the third time really helped us.”

Barnesville entered Thursday as the No. 2 seed, Wheeling Central No. 3, as the two teams have been mainstays in the OVAC tournament.

“All year we were looking forward to it,” Barnesville head coach Kelley Hanlon said. “We were watching the standings, everything like that. We knew that it would be us getting in and we knew it would be Ferry and Wheeling Central getting in too. We wanted to be a part of it, our seniors have been in it every year.

“It’s just kind of a head game. We were excited to play Tuesday, then we get rained out after the second batter. Our heads weren’t in it. It’s not an excuse but we have two of our starters out, so we’ve had to do a lot of moving around of players and I think mentally we just weren’t prepared.”

Ella Betts and Becklee Oliver were unable to play Thursday for the Shamrocks.

Wheeling Central’s offense was powered by Chloe Groom (three RBI, three hits), Maddie Miehle (three hits, two RBI) and Bella Rine (two RBI). Groom, Miehle and Ava Hanson all whacked doubles for the Maroon, Groom hitting two.

Central and Ferry’s conference championship date will be a rematch of last year’s game, which the Knights won. Martins Ferry won the two team’s regular season meeting earlier this year and the Purple Riders are the No. 1 seed in the 3A field.

“So excited- we were nervous about just making it to OVACs, and we were really hyped when we made it,” Frizzell said of making the finals. “We were really hoping to get back and win it again, it’d be really great for our season before sectionals. Now we have the chance to take it home.”