RICHMOND — Entering the 2025 high school baseball season, there were a lot of unknowns about the St. Clairsville baseball team following the large numbers the graduated senior class had put up the season before. However, someone forgot to inform the group of current Red Devils.

Saturday afternoon at the cloud-covered Edison Unified Sports Complex, St. Clairsville and Indian Creek renewed their rivalry in the OVAC Class 4A championship game. For the third year in a row, the second-seeded Red Devils (12-2) defeated the No. 1 Redskins (11-2). This time, however, they had to work a little longer with a 10-4 victory in eight innings.

“I couldn’t be any prouder of this senior group … this team,” veteran St. Clairsville head coach Tom Sliva said. “To beat a quality team like that three times in a row for the OVAC championship is something . This is a big win for these kids. They’ve worked very hard for this and they deserve it.”

It appeared as though St. Clairsville’s Brody Saunders was going to continue his mastery of Indian Creek as the senior righthander was trying to close out a 4-3 victory when the Redskins drew even on a two-out RBI triple to the gap in right-center off the bat of Sylus Hyde. He retired the next batter to end the inning, but he had also reached the OHSAA 125-pitch limit, thus preventing him from continuing. He finished with a dozen strikeouts, five walks and allowed six hits.

“Brody always gives us all he can,” Sliva added. “We knew that he would come and be the dude and we were fortunate enough to put up some huge numbers in that last inning.”

Saunders’ teammates responded for their leader with six runs on just two hits in the top of the eighth to blow the game wide open. Game MVP Mickey Balgo had the big hit with a two-run single to left, but a couple of perfectly placed hits also keyed the outburst.

Colten Florence drew a leadoff walk from Sal Barcalow and Matheson King reached when his sacrifice bunt was thrown late to first. Both runners advanced on a wild pickoff attempt at second and Niko Jacob walked to load the bases. With one out, Jaxon Starks bounced into a fielder’s choice as Florence was forced at the plate. Caiden Bailey legged out a slow roller to short that made it 5-4 and Roby Hanna walked for a 6-4 reading. Gavin Pownall relieved Barcalow and issued a free pass to Saunders as another run crossed to make it 7-4. Balgo slapped the first pitch he saw through the left side of the infield as Bailey and Hanna scored for a 9-4 advantage. Florence, batting for the second time in the inning, singled to right as Saunders came in to cap the six-run explosion.

“Obviously, the final score doesn’t indicate how close of a game it was,” Indian Creek head coach Mike Cottis said. “I thought it was a very well pitched game by our two guys and, obviously, their guy threw great.”

Marshall University recruit Ty Householder had given Indian Creek a 1-0 lead with a solo home run leading off the bottom of the first. A single by Hunter Rusnak, a stolen base and a run-scoring base hit by Hyde bumped the count to 2-0.

St. Clairsville got one of those runs back in the second when Balgo turned on a 3-1 pitch and sent it well over the fence in deep left.

“It feels amazing. Coming into this season this was one of our big goals,” Balgo said. “A lot of people were down on us this year but we wanted to show everyone that we are contenders. We lost a lot last year, but we also have “Boogie” Saunders on the mound, we can hit 1 through 9 and we can pitch.”

The Redskins made an uncharacteristic half of their six errors in the third inning as the Red Devils scored three times to take a 4-2 lead. Hanna had an RBI single, with the other two tallies being unearned.

“We picked a bad game to play our worst defensive game of the year,” Cottis lamented. “We haven’t committed six errors all season.”

Indian Creek threatened in the bottom of the third, but Balgo threw out Householder trying to steal third. Then, after Rusnak walked, St. Clairsville turned a 5-4-3 inning-ending double play.

“That was a huge play by Mickey,” Sliva said of the caught stealing. “He had a big game and his home run really helped out because it put some life back into our dugout and not let them build on what they had started in the first inning.”

The Red Devils tried to add to their margin in the fourth when Jacob and Rowan Mellott reached with no outs, but Hyde retired the next three batters to escape unscathed.

Saunders faced some serious trouble in the fourth when Indian Creek had two on and no out, but the Ashland University recruit fanned the next three batters, the final two looking, to snuff out the rally.

Barcalow came on in relief of Hyde to start the fifth and held the Red Devils in check until the eighth. He struck out four and walked three.

Meanwhile, Saunders escaped a delicate situation in the sixth when Indian Creek loaded the bases with no outs. However, a strikeout preceded a ground ball to third that resulted in a 5-2-3 double play.

“That was another huge play for us defensively,” Sliva added. “We played really well on defense today.”

Cottis agreed.

“We had our chances. We took too many third-strike calls,” he noted.

Of the dozen strikeouts, seven came looking.