WHEELING, W.Va. — Yogi Berra was smiling high up in the heavens Sunday afternoon as his decades-old saying ‘It ain’t over until it’s over’ came into play once again.

Trailing 4-2 entering the bottom of the seventh, West Virginia staged a dramatic rally to stun Ohio, 5-4, in the annual Ohio Valley Athletic Conference’s George Kovalick All-Star Baseball Game at Wheeling Park High School’s Patriot Field on Sunday.

After Linsly’s Trey Prather tied the contest with a two-run double to deep center field, Madonna’s Brock Reinacher bounced to Bellaire’s Jake Heatherington at short with the infield drawn in and runners on second and third with no outs. However, the throw to the plate was late as Linsly’s Collin Paull, who broke for the plate on contact, slid in safely for the win.

“The kids battled and never quit. They played hard and found a way to win,” Linsly’s Jay Cartwright said. “This is always a fun game to coach in. The kids played well and I’m happy for them.”

The inning started with Oak Glen’s Jered Hissam being hit by a pitch. Wheeling Park’s Quinn Jamison then rolled a single up the middle and Paull drew a walk to load the bases. Prather then sent a drive over the center fielder’s head as Hissam and Jamison circled the bases to make it 4-4 and set up the game-winning play.

“It was one of those things. They hit the ball and made plays when they had to,” said Indian Creek’s Mike Cottis. “It was a good game. Our kids played hard. It was a good baseball game.”

The Buckeye State grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth on a two-run single to left-center by losing pitcher Chance Maffe of Bellaire. It scored Steubenville Catholic’s Jascob Kissinger and Fort Frye’s Dawson Layton. Kissinger opened the inning with a walk and Layton singled after failing to get a sacrifice bunt down on two attempts.

The Mountaineers drew even an inning later. University’s Cody Thomas singled to right-center to score Wheeling Park’s Grant Simons and John Marshall’s Braden Sobutka. Simons singled to right leading off and Sobutka walked. Both moved up 90 feet on a double steal and Thomas lined a one-out single to score both.

Ohio regained the advantage in the sixth as Frontier’s Tice Curtis’s single scored Wellsville’s Jaxon Brewer and Fort Frye’s Owen Brown. Brewer singled and stole second and went to third on an error. Brown reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second before Curtis brought both home.

West Virginia left a golden scoring opportunity slip away when it left the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth. Wheeling Park’s Gian Degenova belted a two-out ground-rule double to deep left-center and Brooke’s Charles Fuscardo and Morgantown’s Ty Gaulsky both drew walks. However, Ohio got out of the inning on an infield popup.

Thomas, the seventh pitcher used by West Virginia, earned the win. The hurlers combined to strike out three and walk a like number. Degenova added a single to his double for the only multi-hit game for the Mountaineers.

Curtis and Layton both recorded a pair of singles.

Game Notes

¯ Steubenville Catholic’s Donnie Young was honored as the OVAC Coach of the Year, and also for winning his 100th game this season.

¯ Edison’s Mike Collopy was honored for winning his 300th career game this season.

¯ The OVAC Players of the Year were also honored. They included: Cameron’s Coy Angel (Class 1A); River’s Peyton Blue (Class 2A); Fort Frye’s Layton (Class 3A); Harrison Central’s Treston Nemeth (Class 4A); and University’s Noah Braham (Class 5A).

Nemeth wasn’t eligible to play as his Huskies qualified for the Ohio Division III Final 4 and will play Friday night at Canal Park in Akron against Heath.

Braham is the son of former WVU and Cincinnati Bengals center Rich Braham.

¯ Umpires were Paul Curnes; Jason Carpenter; Ron Holzopfel and Jim Payne.

¯ The game took 1-hour, 50-minutes.