Photo by Kim North Martins Ferry second baseman Christian Shutler camps underneath a pop up during Monday’s OVAC Class 3A semifinal at Memorial Park in Barnesville. The fourth-seeded Purple Riders dropped a 4-3 verdict to the No. 1 Shamrocks. Barnesville will meet Wheeling Central Friday night at 7:30 at Mazeroski Field in Cadiz for the Class A championship. Martins Ferry right fielder Silas Simpson backs up the play.

BARNESVILLE – Baseball can be, at times, a game of inches. It certainly was Monday afternoon at Memorial Park.

Top-seeded Barnesville built a 4-0 lead only to hang on for a 4-3 victory over No. 4 Martins Ferry in an OVAC Class 3A baseball semifinal.

“It feels good,” veteran Barnesville (13-3) head coach D.J. Butler said of reaching the OVAC championship for the first time in two seasons. “As long as I’ve been the coach here going all the way back to when John Bennett and Josh Lucas were coaching, it always comes down to us and Martins Ferry at some point, whether it’s the OVAC, sectional or district.”

Barnesville manufactured a run in its first at-bat when Max Miller singled sharply to center leading off. Brayden Watters bunted him to second and he raced home on Dylan Blon’s base hit to center.

“I think (Hunter) Shutler is one of the best pitchers we’ve seen this season, if not the best, so we knew we were going to have to manufacture runs,” Butler offered.

Martins Ferry (10-6) only had one baserunner through three innings against Blon, that coming on a two-out Texas League double down the right field line by Clayton Snyder.

The Shamrocks collected seven singles, bunching three of them together for a three-run bottom of the third. Martins Ferry, on the other hand, hit a couple of bullets that resulted in key outs.

An infield single by No. 9 hitter Jack Anderson got the inning started. With one out, the Shamrocks executed a hit-and-run perfect as Watters’ single up the middle allowed Anderson to take third. Watters moved to second on catchers’ indifference and both runners touched home plate when Blake Burkhart lined a single through the left side of the Martins Ferry infield, making it 3-0. Burkhart alertly moved up to second when the throw went to the plate. He then broke for third on a 1-2 pitch and sprinted home when the throw went into left field for a 4-0 cushion.

“That was huge,” Butler said of Burkhart’s key hit. “He also did a good job of running the bases when he stole third and scored on the wild throw. I didn’t think they were holding him and we took the chance. Brayden Watters had a huge hit-and-run in that inning, as well.”

The Purple Riders got one run back in the fourth when Eli Smith doubled with one out and scored on Lucas Shane’s single. They made it 4-2 an inning later as Silas Simpson led off with a single up the middle. He went to second on a wild pitch and stole third before scoring on Hunter Shutler’s single to right-center. Smith then walked to load the bases before Shane lined out to Watters in right to end the threat.

Martins Ferry closed to within 4-3 when Smith’s two-out single chased in Cole Patterson in the seventh, but Shane’s screamer was snagged by Max Miller at third for the final out.

“They made one more play than we did. They beat us,” veteran Martins Ferry head coach Anthony Reasbeck said. “I feel bad for Luca. He hit a straight line drive to third base to end the game after he hit a line drive to right field that was caught with two outs and the bases loaded. What are you going to do?

“We hit the ball hard tonight and they caught it.”

Blon continued to add to his career pitching wins record as the southpaw went into the seventh inning before giving way to Parker Sobutka with one out. Blon, who now has 19 victories, threw 95 pitches, striking out seven and walking three. He gave up four hits.

“Dylan did a great job. He kept them off balance,” Butler said. “He got a lot of fly ball outs. Parker was huge. He doesn’t throw 90 (miles per hour), but he throws strikes and gets outs. He does a great job of coming in and closing out games.”

Reasbeck had no problems with Shutler’s effort on the mound that consisted of 87 pitches – 59 strikes. He fanned eight and didn’t walk a batter. In fact, he only went to three balls to a pair of Shamrocks.

“Hunter pitched really well. When they hit the ball, they found a hole. When we hit the ball, they caught it. What are you going to do? That’s baseball.”

Watters had two singles for Barnesville. Smith singled and doubled for Martins Ferry.

Barnesville will play Friday night at 7:30 at Mazeroski Field inside Sally Buffalo Park in Cadiz against No. 3 Wheeling Central, which edged by Fort Frye, 3-1, Monday in Beverly.

“Whoever you get in the finals is going to be a good team,” Butler noted. “If it’s Wheeling Central, we probably played as bad as we could have against them. It will be a challenge.”

The Maroon Knights drilled the Shamrocks, 13-0, in the semifinals of the recent Shamrock Diamond Classic.