Thanks to 14 hits and runs in bunches, the Buccaneers came away with a conference win over Arcanum.

April 17, 2007 – COVINGTON
A deep pitching staff is a luxury Covington coach Mitch Hirsch enjoys and it was on display Tuesday night in a home contest against Arcanum.

Starting pitcher Brad Plank started the contest and pitched well for three innings, but ran into problems in the top of the fourth. Brian Beckstedt entered the game and pitched the Buccs out of the jam as Covington cruised to an 11-4 win.

"Having a deep pitching staff is huge," said Hirsch. "We have eight pitchers and we feel comfortable going to any of them. When one is struggling, we can just plug in another one."

In pitching three solid innings, Plank struck out four and walked just two batters. Beckstedt came in midway through the fourth and went the rest of the way - striking out six and walking just three.

"B.B. (Beckstedt) pitched well," Hirsch said. "He entered the game in a tough situation with one out and runners on first and third. But shut them down and left them with the bases loaded."

Still, Arcanum was able to score three runs in the fourth. But it could have been much worse.

"A couple more hits and it's a different game," continued Hirsch. "We had an 8-3 lead and they had bases loaded with one out. Fortunately we didn't give up any more runs. That was huge."

What was even more huge for Covington was the four runs in the first inning and three straight innings of scoring two runs, including two in the bottom of the fourth.

"After they (Arcanum) scored one in the first and three in the fourth, it was big for us to come back and get some runs," explained Hirsch. "We got four in the first and then came back from giving up three in the fourth to score two in the bottom half. We just kept the pressure on them every inning."

Covington scattered 14 hits in the contest and scored in all but one inning.

"Tonight was probably our best night offensively," said Hirsch. "We hit the ball well."

Darrell Thobe went 3 for 5 and pounded in 3 RBI, while Gene Studebaker went 2 for 4 and also recorded 3 RBI. David Moss continued his hot streak at the plate by going 2 for 2.

Kyle Kanet recorded a triple, while Brad Plank and Jordy Burelison each doubled. Plank's double was big as it drove in two Buccaneer runs.

Covington remains unbeaten at 6-0-1 with the tie with Anna yet to be finished after being called due to darkness.

The Buccaneers travel to rival Bradford on Thursday.

Scoring by innings:
Arcanum ............1....0....0....3....0....0....0 - 4
Covington .........4....2....2....2....0....1....– - 11