The Covington Buccaneers are still not where they want to be in spite of improving to 10-1 with a 5-3 victory over Mississinawa Valley.

April 24, 2007 – UNION CITY
You'd think for a team with a 10-1 record that things would be all hunky-dory. But that would be the furthest from the truth for the Covington Buccaneers, especially after a lackadaisical 5-3 victory over Mississinawa Valley, Tuesday.

"We did not play well at all," said Covington coach Mitch Hirsch after his team recorded three errors. "All three of their runs were unearned."

Although the infield was full of divits and lumps, forcing a routine ground ball to take unexpected hops, Hirsch wouldn't accept any excuses for lackluster play.

"Sure, the infield was brutal and it was difficult to field ground balls," Hirsch said. "But we made some bad decisions in the field and didn't swing the bat well at all."

Covington recorded 10 hits on the afternoon, but left eight runners in scoring position stranded throughout the contest.

"We were too impatient at the plate," described Hirsch. "We were out on our front foot and not letting the ball come to us. We wasn't getting the big hit when we had runners in scoring position."

The game was scoreless through the first two innings until Covington got on the scoreboard in the top of the third.

Mississinawa responded with a run in the bottom of the first to tie the score at 1-1.

Covington appeared to be on its way to breaking the game open in the fourth as it scored three runs and had the bases loaded. But the Buccs couldn't take advantage to the opportunity to put more separation on the scoreboard and left the runners stranded for a 4-1 lead.

The Buccs then added another run in the fiftth to increase the margin to 5-1, but that would be the final run of the night for Covington.

Covington's starting pitcher Brad Plank put together a solid performance through six innings as he struck out 12 and walked just three.

Mississinawa made a run at Covington in the bottom of the seventh. The Blackhawks scored two runs to close the gap to 5-3, but Brian Beckstedt came in relief to close the show and preserve the 5-3 win.

Despite setting at 10-1, Hirsch knows his team must play better as the season progresses, beginning Thursday against Newton.

"I've told the kids that they are as good as they want to be," Hirsch said. "Well, we have Newton on Thursday and we have to play much better than we did tonight. Newton will be ready to play and we have to be ready as well."

Scoring by innings:
Covington ..............0....0....1....3....1....0....0 - 5
Miss. Valley ...........0....0....1....0....0....0....2 - 3