MAY 4, 2011 - COVINGTON
Miami East pitcher Luke Clark made things difficult for CCC rival Covington in a make-up game Wednesday as he kept the host Buccaneer hitters off balance the entire night.

"They're pitcher was pretty good," said Covington coach Mitch Hirsch. "He kept us guessing all night and was locating his pitches very well. We were able to get some runners on base, but when we did he shut us down."

Clark went the distance on the mound, striking out six and walking just one batter.

Covington still managed to put seven runners on base with six hits and a walk, but only came away with one run on an RBI single by Brandon Flora in the sixth inning.

Four of Covington's hits came from the bat of sophomore Bryton Lear, who went 4-for-4 in the contest. Kellen Wolloch had the other hit, a double in the sixth inning.

Meanwhile, Miami East took advantage of the limited hits it had off of Covington starter Jake Stewart, who also went the distance on the mound. Stewart struck out 12 and walked seven, while giving up just three hits.

But those three hits were huge as Miami East scored a run in the third and another in the fifth to take the 2-0 win.

"They put us in some situations on the bases that we didn't react well too," Hirsch explained. "A lot of those situations we haven't been able to work on in practice because we've been practicing in the gym for three weeks (due to the weather). It caught up to us tonight."

The win improves Miami East's record to 11-4 on the season and the Vikings are still in contention for the CCC title with two league losses, one game behind National Trail.

Covington drops to 6-10 overall and 5-3 in the CCC.

SCORING BY INNINGS:
ME ..............0..0..1..0..1..0..0 - 2-3-0
COV ............0..0..0..0..0..1..0 - 1 - 6 - 2