May 12, 2008 – COVINGTON
The Covington Buccaneers captured a second straight outright CCC title on Monday with a 13-2 victory over Ansonia in five innings.

And the win came in front of the hometown fans, which was an unexpected treat.

The game was originally scheduled to be played at Ansonia, but was moved to Covington due to the Tiger's baseball field being unplayable from the recent heavy rains scattered throughout the area.

"It's good to win the league and that's a goal we always set at the beginning of the year," said Covington coach Mitch Hirsch. "But if we don't do anything in the tournament, it won't mean a whole lot."

And Covington lost in the first game of the tournament last season after winning the league title.

"The kids are well aware of what happened last year," continued Hirsch. "They understand that they have to stay focused and take it one game at a time."

Which is what Covington has been able to do throughout the regular season, including in the CCC clincher against Ansonia.

After each team scored a run in the second inning, the Buccs erupted for 10 runs in the third to break the game open.

Covington used 14 batters in the inning and connected for six hits.

"We got some runners on and had a couple of nice hits to the opposite field," Hirsch said. "We scored five of those runs with two outs, so the kids just kept swinging the bats."

Two of the big hits in the inning came from freshman Jake Bitner and Darrell Thobe connected for an opposite field double that scored a pair of runs.

"Darrell is pretty good at hitting to the opposite field," Hirsch said. "When he stays back and goes with the pitch, that's usually where he hits it."

After giving up a run in the third, Covington scored two more insurance runs in the fourth.

"These kids just keep playing," Hirsch said. "It's good when you can continue to score runs after you have a big inning like we did in the third. It shows the kids are focused."

Andy Sparks pitched all but one out in the game as he had to leave due to a blister on his throwing hand. It was the same injury he suffered earlier in the year and Hirsch wanted to be cautious with the tournament coming up.

"It's not as bad as it was the last time," said Hirsch. "He was shaking his hand a little, so we knew it was bothering him. We didn't want to take any chances so we pulled him."

Sparks struck out seven batters on the afternoon, but had his share of problems with six walks until Kyle Kanet came in to record the final out for the Buccs.

"Four out of their five lead-off batters got on base and three of those were walks," Hirsch explained. "Andy was aiming his pitches at times instead of throwing the ball. We'll work on that with him and get him ready for the tournament."

One of Ansonia's runs came as a result of Spark's struggles on the mound.

He walked the lead-off batter in the fourth inning and three wild pitches led to a Tiger run.

"It's nothing that can't be corrected," Hirsch continued. "He has some good stuff and he just has to trust himself when he throws it. He's a battler, so he'll be fine."

Sparks did help himself out by going 2-for-3 on the day.

Jake Bitner also went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI, while David Moss went 2-for-4 with a double and one RBI.

Darrell Thobe had a big day at the plate with two doubles that drove in four runs on a 2-for-4 afternoon.

Covington ends its regular season with a 17-5 overall and 11-1 in the CCC.

The Buccs begin tournament play at home on Thursday against the winner of Riverside and Jackson Center.

Scoring by Innings:
Covington ...........0...1...10...2...0 - 13 .. 11 .. 0
Ansonia ..............0...1......1...0...0 - 2 ...... 2 .. 1