MARCH 31, 2010 - COVINGTON
Covington coach Mitch Hirsch witnessed the good and the bad from his young baseball team Wednesday afternoon in a 7-6 loss to Milton-Union in the home opener.

The good for Covington came after the Buccs fell behind 7-1 and rallied in the last two innings to nearly pull off the come-from-behind win - leaving bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh.

"The kids didn't quit," said Hirsch. "We scored five runs in the last two innings after being down 7-1. That shows the kids have some character."

The bad for the Buccs was the mental mistakes. Three errors were committed as well as some base running mistakes.

"I know we are a young team, but these kids have played a lot of baseball," Hirsch said. "The mental mistakes you can't live with."

The Buccs also left 12 runners stranded, including bases loaded in the first and last innings.

"We had runners on base in every inning but one," Hirsch explained. "We need some guys to step up and get the big hit. We didn't get the big hit tonight or last night (against Anna)."

Covington did manage six hits on the afternoon to just four for Milton.

"The hitting will come," Hirsch said. "We're struggling right now, but it's still early in the season. But we need to cut out the mental mistakes."

Jake Bitner started the contest on the mound and went two innings before Steven Blei came in to pitch two and two-third innings.

Brandon Powell entered the game with two outs in the top of the fifth and pitched two and one-third scoreless innings for the Buccs.

"Brandon threw well," said Hirsch. "It gave us a chance to get back into the game."

Corey Haines went 2-for-4 at the plate, while Bitner and Brandon Flora each doubled in the contest.

But it wasn't enough as Covington drops to 0-2 on the young season.

The Buccs host Graham tomorrow.

Scoring by Innings:
Milton .............2....0....1....0....4....0....0 - 7 .. 4 .. 2
Covington ......0....0....1....0....0....2....3 - 6 .. 6 .. 3