Photo by Andrew Grimm Players from West Virginia and Ohio, pictured during Sunday's OVAC All-Star baseball game.

WELLSBURG — There is a common idea that All-Star games are played for fun and who wins is not really all that important. The players in Sunday’s OVAC All-Star Baseball Game did not seem to get that memo.

Both squads were locked in and battled like it was a do-or-die tournament game to the last out, putting on an instant classic of the baseball game on the turf at Brooke High School with a thrilling nine inning game ending in a 6-6 tie.

Ohio took an early lead and scored the first six runs of the game, looking to be cruising to victory. However, West Virginia was not going away quietly, scoring six runs in the final two innings and came up with some heroic defense in the bottom of the ninth to force the stalemate.

“It was a heck of a ball game, I’ve been fortunate to be involved in a few of these games and this was a great one,” Linsly head coach Jay Cartwright, one of the coaches of Team West Virginia, said. “This is one I will remember a long time, there were a lot of great ball players out here today. Our guys didn’t quit, they kept scrapping and clawing and that’s baseball. There’s no clock, you’ve got to keep playing and we made some plays at the end. It was just a heck-of-a-game.

“Everyone wanted to win this one and that’s what makes a game like this fun to be a part of and fun for fans to watch. High school baseball is a great thing.”

Both teams’ dugouts were loud and engaged, players were swapping caps with their teammates for the day and both sides showed a desire to win.

“It was a lot of fun,” Indian Creek’s Mike Cottis, one of the coaches leading Team Ohio, said. “I’ve been involved in a few All-Star games and that might have been the most emotion I’ve seen. There were a lot of good players on both sides and it was a lot of fun to be part of. Both of these teams wanted it today.

“These guys play hard against each other all season so it’s nice for them to get to be teammates for a day and they had a lot of fun. They were swapping hats and making it like the OVAC football game almost, they were having a lot of fun together.

“This might be the last time some of these guys play baseball and maybe they had a hit or made a play and had fun and that will give them something special to remember.”

It was a pair of Steubenville Big Red standouts that started the offense for the Buckeye State. In the bottom of the first, Nolan Blackburn reached on an error, got over to third and scored on a double steal play with teammate Cole Bowers breaking for second.

An inning later, Cambridge’s Garrett Carpenter led things off with a triple and another Big Red player, Matt Fabbro, drove him in with an RBI fielder’s choice for a 2-0 lead.

Indian Creek’s Sylus Hyde worked a 1-2-3 first and fanned the last two batters in the top of the second after Madonna’s Sam Brooks had a leadoff single, finishing his two innings on the mound unblemished. Wheeling Central’s Steven Brodegard, fresh off a trip the West Virginia State Tournament, tossed the first two innings for the Mountaineers. Three early errors helped Ohio take the lead.

Barnesville’s Keegan Martin and John Marshall’s Hayden Hughes each tossed two scoreless innings for their sides to keep the score where it was. Fabbro came on for Ohio and tossed three scoreless innings, Weir High’s Cayden Braswell matching his goose egg in the fifth.

In the bottom of the sixth, though, the Buckeyes got the offense going again. Barnesville’s Blake Anderson singled and Blackburn doubled to put runners on second and third, then Martin came through with a two-run knock to double the lead.

Brooke’s Andrew Murdock got out of the inning without any more damage, however, stranding a pair of Ohio runners.

An inning later, however, St. Clairsville’s Colton Florence drove a run in with a sac fly, then Edison’s Nolan Haught singled and scored on an RBI triple from Toronto’s Michael Henry, making it 6-0 Ohio. Brooke’s Zac O’Mery fired a strikeout to end the inning and strand him there.

In the top of the eighth, the West Virginia rally began with some two-out magic.

John Marshall’s Mason Markonich got the Mountaineers on the board with a two out RBI single, then O’Mery came up with the bases loaded and knocked in two more runs with a single. An out on the base paths ended the threat with the lead cut in half.

Then, after Oak Glen’s James Rohbeck worked a scoreless bottom half, striking out three-straight to strand a man on third, West Virginia got the bats going again down to their last turn with the bats.

Rohbeck hit an RBI triple, Brooke’s Ty Sperringer and got aboard and an error brought a run in to cut the lead to two. After Fort Frye’s Kainan Bradford got the next two out, Morgantown Trinity’s Nathan Adams provided some more two-out magic with an RBI knock, tying the game.

Ohio had a golden opportunity to walk-it-off in the bottom of the ninth when Indian Creek’s Gavin Pownall led the inning off with a double and got to third when teammate Hunter Rusnak grounded out. Toronto’s Heath Thomas then grounded into a fielder’s choice, and a throw to the plate cut down Pownall attempting to score. Rohbeck then fired a game-ending strikeout to end the threat and end things in a deadlock.

NOTES

• Prior to the game. Cameron head coach Adam Angel, Fort Frye head coach Trey Engle and Madonna head coach TJ Miller were recognized for reaching 100 career victories this past season. St. Clairsville head coach Tom Silva was recognized for earning his 500th career victory.

• Between innings, Angel was presented the OVAC Coach of the Year award. Cameron’s Landen Francis (1A), Toronto’s Drake Bouscher (2A), Wheeling Central’s Jake Brown (3A), Linsly’s Jaxon Murray (4A) and Brooke’s Andrew Murdock (5A) were recognized for winning the conference Player of the Year awards. Bouscher and Murray’s awards were accepted by head coaches Brian Perkins and Jay Cartwright as they were not able to attend Sunday’s game.

•There were two separate rain showers that moved through during the game but not enough to halt the action and the lightning stayed far enough away until after the game for their to be no delays. The nine-inning game, played straight through, took about two-and-a-half hours.