APRIL 8, 2010 - MINSTER
Despite losing 15-2 in five innings to a very talented Minster team, Covington coach Mitch Hirsch saw plenty of positive things from his young baseball team.

"The score doesn't show it, but we played better tonight," said Hirsch. "Defensively, we played much better."

Still, Minster had too much firepower for the young Buccs and rolled to a 13-0 lead in the first three innings, including a big nine-run inning in the third.

"I've never seen so many bloopers," Hirsch sighed. "It seemed like every time they got runners on base they'd hit a little blooper that was just out of reach of our infielders. Don't get me wrong, they hit the ball hard at times too."

Covington didn't quit, however, and loaded the bases in both the fourth an fifth innings. Both innings resulted in a run, which wasn't enough to prevent the inevitable.

"These kids won't quit and that's good to see because we are so young," Hirsch said. "We kept battling and loaded the bases in the last two innings. Unfortunately we couldn't bring in more runs."

Still, Hirsch is pleased with the effort.

"We only struck out three times against a very good baseball team," said Hirsch. "We put a bat on the ball. We're just not able to bring runners in when we have them in scoring position."

Kyle Peoples started the contest on the mound after earning the opportunity through his performance on the junior varsity squad. He pitched into the third inning before being relieved by Nick Long.

Andrew DeHart had a nice outing at the plate with a triple and a single in three at bats, while Adam Craft pounded out a double.

Jake Stewart and Jake Bitner each drove in a run for the Buccs.

Covington drops to 1-6 on the season and will open it's Cross County Conference schedule tomorrow against Miami East at Duke Park.

SCORING BY INNINGS:
Covington ................0...0...0...1...1 - 2 .. 5 .. 3
Minster .....................2...2...9...2...x - 15 .. 12 .. 0