Covington used a dominating pitching effort from Brad Plank and an outstanding defensive effort to beat Franklin Monroe.

April 2, 2007 – COVINGTON
In two innings Covington Buccaneers sprayed the ball around the ball park, scoring all nine runs in the first and fifth for a 9-1 victory over Franklin Monroe, Monday.

"It seems like we get up on somebody and put it into cruise control," said Covington coach Mitch Hirsch in regards to his teams ineffective offense after building a 4-1 lead in the first inning. "We need to put together a solid seven innings hitting the ball."

After surrendering a run in the first, Covington starting pitcher Brad Plank kept the Jet hitters off balance over the remainder of the contest. Plank went the distance, striking out nine and only allowing four hits. He also didn't give up a single walk.

"Brad threw very well tonight," Hirsch described. "He was in control and kept them (Franklin Monroe) off balance all game."

Kyle Kanet and Darrel Thobe started Covington off in the bottom half of the first as each drew walks.

After a double steal moved the runners to second and third, David Moss drilled a single to right to drive in both Kanet and Thobe to give Covington a 2-1 lead.

Nate Lavy then followed with a single as Moss moved to third. Brad Plank drilled another Covington base hit to score Moss and put runners at the corners.

Covington wasn't through as Tyler Kanet wrapped yet another single, which scored Lavy and increased the Covington lead to 4-1.

"The way we were hitting the ball in the first inning, I thought we were going to have a big night," said Hirsch. "Unfortunately we stopped swinging the bats."

Covington failed to score over the next three innings as the score remained 4-1 headed into the bottom of the fifth.

Suddenly, the Buccaneers started putting a bat on the ball and benefited from two Franklin Monroe errors in a five-run inning. Tyler Kanet and Brad Plank each had hits to drive in runners as Covington increased its lead to 9-1.

That is where the score stood until the final out as neither team could get much going offensively.

Covington recorded nine hits on the night as David Moss went 3 for 4, while Brad Plank and Tyler Kanet went 2 for 3. The Buccs also played their best defensive game of the young season, committing no errors.

"This is by far our best defensive effort," Hirsch praised. "We didn't give them (Franklin Monroe) anything to capitalize on."

The victory improves Covington's record to 2-0-1. The Buccs travel to Houston tomorrow.

Scoring by Innings:
Frankin Monroe ..........1....0....0....0....0....0....0 - 1
Covington ..................4....0....0....0....5....0....0 - 9

Winning Pitcher - Brad Plank (Cov)
Losing Pitcher - Austin Presley (FM)