By Rob Kiser - Piqua Daily Call Sports Editor

MAY 19, 2011 - PIQUA
Russia baseball coach Billy Shoffner was looking at the big picture.

Covington baseball coach Mitch Hirsch couldn't have been prouder of his team, despite a 14-5 loss in a Division IV sectional final at Hardman Field.

Russia will play Southeastern for a Division IV district title at 5 p.m. today at Lebanon.

Which is why Shoffner worked his pitching staff to his best advantage in the Covington game.

Ace Jacob Hoying didn't start the game — but Shoffner was able to use him for just four and a third innings in two different stretches — leaving him with five-plus innings for today.

"We were not looking at just winning this game," Shoffner said. "I know people will say you have to win this game to get to the next game — but we are looking at the picture. We are looking at what we have to do to win the whole thing."

And in the end, the Raiders just had too much firepower for the Covington pitching staff.

Covington had rallied from a 5-1 deficit to tie the game 5-5 in top of the fifth, before Russia plated nine runs in its last two at bats.

It was the same heart the Buccs had showed in rallying from a 2-11 start to finish with a 13-16 record.

"We just ran into a great team," Hirsch said. "That (rallying from the 5-1 deficit) is something these kids have done all year. There is no quit in these kids."

Kellen Woloch had a RBI double that would have been a three-run homer in almost any other park in the covington fifth, while Ben Wilson and Sheldon Rank had RBI singles, with Rank beating out an infield grounder.

Russia quickly answered in the home fifth with three runs.

Trevor Sherman blasted a RBI double in the inning and Bryce Rittenhouse, the nine hitter, had a two-run single.

"The kids did do a good job answering," Shoffner said. "I feel like we are pretty consistent all the way through the order."

Russia then erased all doubt with a six-run sixth inning.

It started with back-to-back doubles by Colyn McEldowney and Hoying and Russia never let up. Mitchell Bensman had a RBI single, Levi Francis had two-run triple and Joel Meyer singled in a run.

Russia was also helped out by three Covington errors in that two-inning stretch.

"If we could ever play two days in a row and get in rhythm, I think we swing the bats as well as anybody," Shoffner said. "We started out a little slow today and picked up as the game went on. I think we gained confidence as the game went on."

Sherman pitched a perfect seventh inning to finish things off.

"Trevor is a nice sophomore pitcher," Shoffner said. "The ball gets up there with a little more velocity than you think. He is a guy everyone is going to be hearing a lot about the next two years."

Bensman, Hoying, Mitch Knight and Sherman combined to limit Covington to five hits.

Francis led Russia, going 3-for-4 with two triples. Bensman was 3-for-4 with a double, Hoying was 2-for-3 with a double and Sherman was 2-for-4 with a double.

Jake Stewart, Austin Angle, Steven Blei and Dylan Fortner combined on the pitching effort for Covington.

"These kids have nothing to hang their heads about," Hirsch said. "We were 2-11 at one time. One of the things we told them was how far they have come. This senior group — they are going to be tough to replace."

Shoffner hopes he doesn't have to worry about that for another couple weeks.

LINESCORE
Covington .....010..040..0 — 5 - 5 - 4
Russia ..........110..336..x — 14 - 14 - 3

Stewart, Angle (4), Blei (5), Fortner (6) and Wilson. Bensman, Hoying (2), Knight (5), Hoying (5), Sherman (7) and McEldowney. 2B-Covington:
Woloch. Russia: McEldowney, Hoying, Bensman, Sherman. 3B-Russia: L. Francis (2). Records: Russia 17-7, Covington 13-16.