Photo by Kim North Maynard catcher Andy Bailer tags out Barton baserunner Kobe Hill during a rundown Friday night in their Ohio Valley Baseball League game on Firemen’s Field inside the Maynard Community Park. The Braves scored seven times in the sixth inning for a 11-3 victory over the host Indians.

MAYNARD — For the third time this summer, league-leading Barton has defeated long-time Belmont County rival Maynard in Ohio Valley Baseball League action. However, Friday night’s outcome was far different than the previous two — both 1-0 Braves’ victories.

Barton (8-2) trailed 3-2 after five innings, but broke loose for seven runs in the top of the sixth and never looked back in posting a 11-3 triumph over the host Indians (3-4) before a nice turnout at Firemen’s Field inside the Community Park.

The game was delayed approximately five minutes in the top of the fifth due to rain.

“I pulled the guys to the side before we batted in the sixth and told them they were playing like it was wiffleball,” veteran Barton manager Billy Timko said. “I told them ‘you’re in first place. Act like it,’ and they responded.”

On the short end of a 3-2 count, Barton recorded six hits — five singles and a double — with one out in taking the lead for good.

Zach Smith was hit with the eighth pitch of his at-bat to jump-start the outburst. Aaron Marovich sent a blast to the gap in right-center for a double that chased Smith home to tie the game. Jake Winland delivered a run-scoring base hit up the middle as Marovich scored what turned out to be the game-winning run. After Kobe Hill walked, Hunter Hoffman, Colten Coss and Josh Speaker had consecutive RBI singles. Two more runs crossed on a throwing error.

Drake Dobson had four 1-2-3 innings, including the seventh and was helped out in the second with a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play. He retired 14 of the final 16 Indians he faced. One reached on a walk, the other on an error.

“I wanted to pull him after the sixth, but he said ‘let me finish’ and I said alright,” Timko said of his conversation with Dobson. “He is a bulldog out there on the mound.”

“Don’t let him fool you, he tried to take me out. He was like ‘good job. Take a seat,'” Dobson recalled. “I told him ‘Billy, I’ve already been through a rain delay and 111 pitches, you might as well let me finish this out.”

Dobson said the third was a weird inning.

“It started off with some questionable stuff with the batter getting hit with the pitch,” Dobson explained of the three-run third. “Then I gave up back-to-back singles before I walked in a run. That was a rough inning, but I bounced back and I’m proud of that.”

Dobson, a former Martins Ferry and West Liberty product, threw 121 pitches in his route-going performance, with 69 going for strikes. He struck out nine — six in the final three innings — and walked three. He also hit one.

“It was kind of scary there for a couple of innings at 3-2, but we were finally able to jump on them after a pitching change and take control from there,” Dobson added.

The top three Barton batters — Hill, Hoffman and Coss — combined for 11 hits and six RBI, something that drew praise from Dobson.

“That’s incredible,” he said of the top of the order. “I don’t think I’ve ever had offensive support like that in my entire baseball career. It makes it (pitching) easy.”

All told, Barton rapped out 15 hits. Hoffman led the hit parade with three doubles, a single and two runs batted in, while Coss collected three singles, a double and knocked in four runs. Hill added a trio of base hits.

Maynard’s Ciaran Flanagan picked up an RBI a bases-loaded walk. Tyler Ramsay’s bloop single drove in another and Mackenzie Koehler had a sacrifice fly.

“We’ve started off slow against them this year. We had a couple of nail-biters, but tonight they broke it open,” Maynard manager David Vicker said. “We left a lot of runners on base and we didn’t have some key players here.”