WHEELERSBURG — The Wheelersburg Pirates went to “small ball” to get a big win.

Using an array of bunts, the Pirates blanked the Coal Grove Hornets 8-0 Friday to win the Division III sectional title.

“To be as good as they were, I never expected them to bunt that much. They must have tried eight bunts,” said Hornets’ coach Dean Mader. “But that’s a tribute to how far we’ve come. They felt they had to play small ball to beat us.”

Andrew Elliott pitched a one-hitter to make sure the “small ball” stood up. He also slugged a solo home run in the sixth inning for the last Pirates’ run.

Evan Ferguson had a single for the Hornets’ lone hit.

“We put the ball in play and we hit it hard, they just caught them,” said Mader. “We hit one ball near the base of the fence and their guy made a diving catch.”

The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Hornets who finished the season 12-10.

Coal Grove 000 000 0 = 0 1 2

Wheelersburg 011 141 x = 8 11 0

Wayne Sparks and Jake Murphy. Andrew Elliott and Caleb Leach. W-Elliott (7-K, 0-BB). L-Sparks (5-K, 3-BB). 2B-Wheelersburg: Brandon Hall 2, Drew Parsley. HR-Wheelersburg: Andrew Elliott. Hitting-Coal Grove: Evan Ferguson 1-2; Wheelersburg: Ryan O’Leary 2-4, Andrew Elliott 1-4 rbi, Nick Kemper 1-3, Brandon Hall 3-4 2-rbi, Luster 2-3, Parsley 1-3, Caleb Leach 1-2.