Photo by Kim North Maynard’s Mackenzie Koehler, left, receives congratulations from first baseman Tyler Ramsay after Koehler threw a complete game two-hitter Thursday night to eliminate defending Ohio Valley Baseball League champion Wheeling in Game 3 of the best-of-3 quarterfinal game on Firemen’s Field inside the Maynard Community Park. The Indians prevailed, 7-1.

MAYNARD — A new champion will be crowned this summer in the Ohio Valley Baseball League.

Defending titleist Wheeling, the No. 5 seed, was eliminated Thursday night in Game 3 of its best-of 3 quarterfinal series against fourth-seeded Maynard by a 7-1 count as veteran Makenzie Koehler went the distance on the mound.

“I was just happy to be here, honestly,” Koehler said. “I know if I throw it (the ball) over the plate and fill it (the strike zone) up, we’ve got the best defense in the league. So, I was just trying to do my job.

“Every pitch seemed to be working,” Koehler added. “I was spotting every pitch. I think this is the best that I have thrown all summer. I had to show up when my team needed me.”

With the win, the Indians (11-8) advanced to an all-Belmont County semifinal pow wow against top-seeded Barton (12-7). The Braves swept the 4-game regular season series. Game 1 of the best-of 3 series is set for Sunday at Henning Field inside Pramesa Park in Crescent. The first pitch is set for 1 p.m.

“That is who we wanted (to play),” Koehler said. “They’ve been the big dogs all year. That’s who we wanted and now we’ve got them.”

Maynard manager David Vicker echoed Koehler’s thoughts.

“Mackenzie always does a good job for us, especially here in Maynard,” Vicker stressed. “He got us to where we wanted to be. We wanted to play Barton in the championship, but we’ll settle for the semifinals.”

The Pioneers (4-15) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a two-out walk to Sonny Peluchette and back-to-back singles by Josh Schramm and Brian Shaw, the latter driving in Peluchette.

However, that would be all the offense Wheeling could muster against Koehler, the hard-throwing St. Clairsville graduate. The righthander needed just 94 pitches (65 strikes) and retired 12 of the final 13 Pioneers he faced. The lone baserunner was doubled up to end the sixth. Koehler struck out, including three in the first and the final two to end the game in 1-hour, 43-minutes. He issued three walks.

Maynard evened the score in the bottom of the first when Matt Busby drew a leadoff walk and promptly swiped second. With two out, Hunter Westlake singled to left to knock in Busby.

“That was crucial,” Vicker said of being able to draw even. “That kept our spirits up.”

Koehler helped himself at the plate with an RBI groundout in the second inning that scored Eric Banal to make it 2-1. That proved to be the game-winning tally. He also tripled in Ciaran Flanagan in the sixth and scored the game’s final run on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Mason VanNest.

“Give Maynard credit, they made some stellar defensive plays,” Wheeling manager Scott Shaw said. “We just couldn’t get anything going against Mackenzie after the first inning. I’m proud of my guys because it’s been a long season, but they showed up and battled every night.”

Flanagan singled in a run in the fourth to score Banal, who had doubled, and Maynard tacked on two more in the fifth and two in the sixth.

Westlake had a run-producing single to drive in Alex Baker and Busby raced home on a sacrifice fly by Banal in the fifth.

Banal singled, doubled, scored twice and stole a base. Flanagan singled twice, as did Westlake.

WILD PITCHES

— Game 2 of the Barton-Maynard semifinal will be Monday at Firemen’s Field at 6 p.m. Should a third — and deciding — game be needed, it would be played back in Crescent on Wednesday, also at 6.

— The other semifinal between No. 2 Weirton (9-4) and third-seeded Bethany (14-8) will also begin on Sunday at 1 p.m. on Edwin J. Bowman Field in downtown Weirton. Game 2 will be on Monday at Bethany Park on the campus of Bethany College, at 6 p.m., with Game 3, if needed, back in Weirton on Wednesday again at 6.

— Maynard has won titles in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

— Barton won its last title in 2020 when it outlasted Weirton in a 5-game thriller.