SHADYSIDE — The Barton-Shadyside Ohio Valley Baseball League game Wednesday night turned into a numbers game as the teams not only battled each other, but Mother Nature, as well for 2-hours and 20 minutes.

When the final out was recorded, the homestanding Casketmakers (2-1) had rallied from an 8-2 deficit entering the bottom of the fifth for an improbable 12-10 victory over the Braves (3-1) on rain-soaked Fleming Field. The game was played through several downpours and a steady drizzle for the most part.

In addition to combining for 22 runs — on just eight hits (4 each) — the rivals posted the following stats: 25 base on balls; 19 runners left on base; 19 strikeouts; 16 RBI; six errors and three hit-by-pitches. Each team sent a trio of hurlers to the mound and they combined for 336 pitches thrown.

“Yogi Berra said it best when he said, ‘It ain’t over until it’s over,'” Shadyside manager Logan Hudson said. “If I didn’t say this was a weird win, I’d be lying. This is one of the weirdest baseball games I’ve ever played in, and I’ve played in a lot of them.

“Baseball is a great game, but it can be weird at times.”

The Casketmakers trailed 1-0 after half-an-inning before Kraig Kubancik’s two-run, two-out double put the hosts ahead in the bottom of the frame. The game remained that way until the fifth as both starters — Shadyside’s Josh Kernik and Barton’s Tyler Blomquist — were both effectively wild. They combined for 15 Ks (Kernik 9) and 11 free passes, but continually made big pitches when they had to despite the elements.

“Both teams had quality pitchers out there today. I think the wetness really affected those guys,” Barton manager Billy Timko noted. “You don’t see those guys throwing that many balls. I looked at the (right-handed) batter’s box and it’s a mess, so I can imagine what the mound was like.”

The Braves seemingly broke the game open when they sent 11 batters to the plate in scoring seven runs in the fifth for an 8-2 advantage. However, they only managed one hit — Zach Melton’s infield single with one out. They did take advantage of four consecutive walks after that forced in a three runs and sent Kernik from the hill in favor of Cody Goletz, who retired the first batter he faced before the Casketmakers made three straight errors and Goletz hit a batter that allowed four runs to cross the plate.

“We never gave up,” Hudson said of his squad. “We never give up.”

Indeed, Shadyside never.

It chipped away at the deficit with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Two of the tallies came on bases-loaded walks and the other on a Kubancik groundout.

After Barton took a 9-5 lead on McGrath’s RBI single in the top of the sixth, the Casketmakers responded with their own seven-run uprising on a single hit. They used four walks, two errors and a hit batter before Jared Clovis put the capper on it with a bases-clearing double to deep center, making it 12-9.

The Braves threatened in the seventh as Ryan Lovette walked leading off and Melton followed suit. Winning pitcher Nathan Butts induced a 6-4-2 double play that left Lovette at third. McGrath blasted his third hit of the game to the fence in left-center as Lovette scored. Blomquist, who had walked, rounded third, but briefly stopped and headed back to the bag. When the relay throw was high of its mark at third, Blomquist re-headed for the plate only to be thrown out by Hunter Westlake to end the game.

McGrath finished with two singles and a double that plated four runs.

Barton had defeated Belmont County (17-1) and Hannibal (4-2) earlier in the week.