The Covington Buccaneers left Bradford with a better taste in their mouths than they had one year ago.

April 19, 2007 – BRADFORD
The memory of last year's seventh inning collapse against Bradford was fresh in the minds of the Covington Buccaneers as they took to the field Thursday night. One year ago on the same diamond the Railroaders overcame an 11-1 deficit in the bottom of the seventh to score 11 runs and steal the victory.

There would be no colossal collapse by Covington and no amazing comeback by Bradford as the Buccs dominated en route to a 5-0 victory.

David Moss was in command of the Bradford hitters all evening as he went the distance in picking up the win. Moss struck out five and allowed just five hits. He also didn't allow a single walk.

"David is pitching really well," said Covington coach Mitch Hirsch. "He was in total control tonight. He keeps the ball down in the strike zone, so we get a lot of ground balls."

Which was good for Covington as the defense behind Moss made some outstanding plays and never gave Bradford any extra opportunities.

"We made some great defensive plays tonight," Hirsch said. "To play on a dirt infield for the first time this year, we played well."

Not only was Covington playing well defensively, the batters were connecting all night long. In spite of recording just seven hits, the Buccs were making contact often and hard.

"We had three shots that would have been home runs on a field with a fence," Hirsch explained. "They (Bradford) were playing their outfield deep for a reason. We were hitting the ball hard."

Covington opened the top of the first with two runs as a David Moss double scored Gene Studebaker and then Moss scored on a wild pitch.

The Buccaneers struck again in the third as Darrell Thobe scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Drew Craft.

Two more runs came in the sixth as Thobe reached on a single and moved to third on another double by Moss. Drew Craft singled to right to score both runners and increase the margin to 5-0.

Bradford's best scoring opportunity came in the bottom of the sixth as it had runners at first and second with no outs.

After a fly ball to Thobe recorded the first out, Moss struck out the next batter. Tyler Kanet then caught a Bradford runner napping for the double play.

"That was a heads-up play by Ty," Hirsch said. "Moss got the strikeout and Ty made the throw to second. We got him in a rundown and were able to get the out. That was a big inning."

Bradford had one last chance in the bottom of the seventh, but Moss wasn't about to allow another miracle comeback by the 'Roaders. The Buccaneer pitcher kept the Bradford hitters off balance and preserved the win as the final out came on a fly ball to left and fell into the mitt of Brian Beckstedt.

"We're getting better with each outing," said Hirsch. "The weather is starting to cooperate and we're getting some games in. We just need to keep playing and we'll continue to improve."

Darrell Thobe and David Moss both went 2 for 3 on the night, while Moss recorded 2 doubles and Studebaker had another double. Drew Craft recorded three RBI as well.

The victory keeps Covington unbeaten on the season at 7-0-1 and 5-0 in the CCC. Covington travels to Fort Loramie on Friday.

Scoring by Innings:
Covington ..........2....0....1....0....0....2....0 - 5
Bradford .............0....0....0....0....0....0....0 - 0

Winning Pitcher: David Moss (Covington)
Losing Pitcher: Erin Frantz (Bradford)