PARKERSBURG — Parkersburg South scored the game’s first four runs and never looked back Friday night as the host Patriots posted a 6-3 win over cross-town rival Parkersburg High to claim the Class AAA Region IV, Section 1 baseball championship at Hank Greenburg Field. South won the sectional by topping the Big Reds in two out of three games after the Patriots and PHS had ousted Ripley in the three-team Section 1 field. South sophomore southpaw starter Colin Bryant was up to the task Friday with the chance to move onto the regional the reward for the winner, pitching the first five frames in allowing the Big Reds only two hits and a run before giving way to Chase Freshour and Bryce Eagle for an inning apiece. The Patriots, now 17-4, tallied a run in their initial at-bat on Freshour’s RBI single, then tacked on three more runs in the second inning on a RBI double by Blake McMullen, a RBI single by Ben Menarchek and a RBI sacrifice fly by Reece Fletcher. PHS got a run back in the third inning on a RBI ground-out by Jordan Batten, but South added single runs in the bottom of the third on a RBI double by Jarritt Flinn and in the fourth frame on another RBI single by Freshour to widen its lead to five at 6-1. In the top of the sixth though, the Big Reds were making a comeback bid to get back into contention, scoring two runs on a RBI single by Tyler Cancade and a RBI bases-loaded walk by Kam Mace to narrow the gap to just 6-3 and still had the bases full with two outs. However, then Patriots second baseman McMullen made the defensive play of the game. PHS’ Hayden Morris drilled a line drive that appeared headed for right field and probably two more runs to bring the Big Reds within just one run. But McMullen leaped up to grab the ball over his head before it went by to halt the Big Red rally, and PHS went down in order in the top of the seventh to finish its season at 10-13. “Defense was the difference for us tonight,” said first-year South head coach Todd Burner. “And Colin (Bryant) gutted it out the first five innings for us, then our relievers finished — and we had some timely hits too.” But McMullen’s defensive gem at a critical juncture of the game was called by Burner “a game-saver possibly. That was a heck of a play. We played defense today and won the game.” Even for PHS head coach Alan Burns, he too saw McMullen’s dramatic catch “as probably was what finished off our chances. If that ball goes through, we score at least two there, still have at least two guys in scoring position and things were rolling for us. But he (McMullen) made a nice play.”