April 8, 2009 - COVINGTON
With the recent game cancellations due to weather and being cooped up in the gym the past few days, the Covington Buccaneers couldn't wait to get back on the diamond.

And it showed in a two-game sweep of Shelby High School from Michigan, who made the seven-hour trip for a double-header on Wednesday.

Covington beat the Tigers 10-4 and 16-14, while pounding out a total of 24 hits on the afternoon.

"We haven't been outside since Saturday, so I thought it was good to finally get to play," said Covington coach Mitch Hirsch after his team improved to 5-0-1 on the season. "And to play a team we've never seen before and hit the ball as well as we did was very encouraging."

And those hits came against a team that finished 27-8 a year ago.

"They're a good team," praised Hirsch of the visitors. "They can hit the ball too."

Shelby High connected on 18 hits in the two games and put 14 runs on the board in the second game of the double-header.

"C.J. (Poling) started the second game and struggled a little bit with his location," Hirsch described. "It was his first varsity start, so nerves probably had a lot to do with that."

Covington used three more pitchers in the contest as freshman Steven Blei came in with two outs in the top of the first and pitched for two innings.

"Steven did a good job, but we didn't help him out defensively," said Hirsch. "We had a few mistakes behind him, so for his first varsity action he pitched pretty well."

Another freshman followed Blei as Brandon Powell entered the game with two outs in the third and also went two innings for the Buccs.

"I wanted to see the young guys pitch," Hirsch explained. "Overall, they did pretty good considering they are young and haven't been in that situation very often (pitching at the varsity level)."

Another young pitcher saw a lot of action as Jake Stewart made his first varsity start in the first game of the double-header.

Stewart went six innings, struck out six, walked three and allowed just four hits in a 10-4 Buccaneer victory.

"Jake threw very, very well," said Hirsch. "We really needed him to step up and pitch well today. For him to only give up four hits in his first varsity start, that's big."

Nate Lavey provided relief in both contests as he picked up the save in the opening game and the win in the second contest.

"They (Shelby High) had a hard time catching up with Nate," Hirsch said. "He did a good job of keeping them off balance and guessing all the time. He threw well."

Several Buccaneers had big days at the plate with Adam Craft leading the way with a 5-9 afternoon, including a two doubles and four RBI.

Covington looks to keep the momentum rolling as Minster comes to town tomorrow.

GAME ONE SCORING:
Shelby High .............0...2...0...0...1...1...0 - 4 - 5 - 2
Covington .................0...3...0...5...0...2...- - 10 - 10 - 2

GAME TWO SCORING:
Shelby High .............4...3...4...0...3...0...0 - 14 - 13 - 5
Covington .................5...6...1...0...0...4...- - 16 - 14 - 1