Photo by Kim North Veteran St. Clairsville head baseball coach Tom Sliva (in gray top) meets with his team following their 5-1 victory at Brooke on Monday. The win was Sliva’s 500th of his 30-year career.

WELLSBURG – Kohen Holmes and Tom Sliva will be forever linked in St. Clairsville baseball history.

Holmes, a sophomore southpaw, recorded his first career pitching win in his initial varsity start as the Red Devils defeated Brooke, 5-1, Monday, giving the veteran skipper his 500th career diamond victory.

“Milestones are fun. Longevity and a lot of great players and great (assistant) coaches,” Sliva said. “It means a lot because I appreciate everybody that has been with me, and I appreciate the journey. I want to keep going. I want to win No. 501 tomorrow.

“We want to get better. If we don’t make the OVAC playoffs, then we want to be the team that nobody wants to see in the postseason. That’s what we are shooting for.”

Sliva began his coaching career at St. John Central in Bellaire where he won 120 games in six seasons with the Irish. Monday’s win was his 380th at St. Clairsville (7-6). He joins fellow Red Devil head coach Richard “Lefty” Hall with 500-plus victories as Hall notched 515. The only other Ohio-side Ohio Valley head coach to amass 500 or more wins was Steubenville’s Fred Heatherington, who retired after last season with 697.

Holmes, who has been sidelined for most of the season with an ankle injury, went the distance, striking out four, walking four and yielding a mere three singles. He threw 101 pitches with 58 being strikes. He got ahead of 18 of the 28 batters he faced with a first-pitch strike.

“This means a lot. I’ve dealt with a lot of injuries, both last year and this year,” Holmes said. “This feels great. I will definitely remember it for the rest of my life.”

The Bruins (7-13-1) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on losing pitcher Andrew Murdock’s sacrifice fly, but they had a runner on base in all seven innings.

“He couldn’t have pitched much better,” Sliva said of Holmes. “He filled it (the strike zone) up and did a really nice job. He had a little bit of nerves early, but he overcame them and I couldn’t ask for any more than that from him.”

Some ‘small ball’ and a pair of run-scoring doubles from seniors Niko Jacob and Colton Florence ignited a three-run top of the third, which was all Holmes needed as far as run support.

With one out, Roby Hanna legged out a bunt single and Jacob drove him in with a double to the gap in left-center. Matheson King’s bunt base hit moved Jacob to third and he trotted in when Florence blooped a double to right-center.

“This win means a lot. We had a slow start but we’ve picked it up and were taking it one day at a time,” the West Liberty signee said. “I love Coach Sliva. He’s been here for me all four years, so I’m glad we were able to get this win for him.”

Hanna’s one-out double to right-center added an insurance tally in the fourth as Caiden Bailey scored. Jaxon Starkes raced home on a wild pitch to cap the scoring.

“He’s been here for us through everything,” Florence said. “He’s a good coach and he deserves it more than anyone.”

Florence finished with a double and triple, while Hanna singled and doubled and Bailey had a pair of singles.

“We weren’t prepared to play. That’s on me,” Brooke head coach Doug Costain said. “We didn’t execute very well and we didn’t do the things we needed to get done. Hat’s off to St. Clairsville. Not only did they bunt, but they bunted to the right places and handled the bats well. Great job by their pitcher. He kept us guessing.”

Murdock absorbed the loss with six strikeouts and three walks. However, he allowed 10 hits and all five runs were earned.

St. Clairsville entered the week in sixth place in the OVAC Class 4A race, with the cut-off set for Friday. However, the Red Devils can gain ground on Linsly, Beaver Local and Union Local with victories over Wheeling Park (twice), Harrison Central and John Marshall (twice).