MAY 5, 2011 - NEW MADISON
Covington and Tri-Village combined to score 31 runs on 26 hits and seven errors Thursday night in a contest that went ten innings and nearly three and a half hours.

"I didn't think it was ever going to end," chuckled Covington coach Mitch Hirsch. "That was a long, long game."

When the game finally ended, it was Covington who came out on top 17-14, scoring three runs in the top of the tenth inning to seal the victory.

"We were down six runs right off the bat and we didn't look very good at all," Hirsch described. "But the kids didn't quit and kept playing. Eventually we got back into the game."

After Tri-Village scored six runs in its first at bat, Covington racked up three runs in the second, one in the third, four in the fourth and five more runs in the fifth to take a 13-7 lead.

And four of the five runs in the fifth came on one swing by senior Ben Wilson, who connected on a grand slam.

But seven straight runs by Tri-Village, three in the bottom of the fifth and four in the sixth, gave the home team a 14-13 lead.

Hirsch then inserted Steven Blei on the mound in an attempt to shut down the hot hitting Patriots.

And that's what he did, pitching four scoreless innings.

"Steven came in and shut them down," Hirsch said. "His curveball was working. He had decent speed and was hitting his spots."

Meanwhile, Covington went to work at the plate to get the tying run in the top of the seventh.

Kellen Woloch doubled and Andrew Dehart drilled a triple to extend the game into extra innings.

Suddenly, all of the offense by both teams went away as neither team could score until the Buccs broke loose in the top of the tenth.

The inning started with Wilson getting hit by a pitch and Corey Haines and Cameron Rank loaded the bases with back-to-back bunts.

Ryan Craft squeezed in Wilson for the go-ahead run followed by a Tri-Village balk that scored Haines and a passed ball Rank beat out at the plate.

"The run we got on the squeeze by Craft took the wind out of their sails," said Hirsch. "They seemed to fall apart after that."

Blei and the Buccaneer defense then recorded the three outs needed to salvage the win.

"Tonight we hit the ball really well, but we didn't play very good defensively," Hirsch said. "We had five errors tonight. We're a little inconsistent because sometimes its our defense and pitching that carry us because we aren't hitting well. Tonight it was the other way around."

Ben Wilson went 3-for-4 with a grand slam, a double and five RBI, while Bryton Lear had a double and three RBI on three hits.

Kellen Woloch, Corey Haines and Brandon Flora each had a pair of hits with Woloch driving in two runs with a double.

Andrew Dehart had a triple and drove in three runs in the contest.

Covington improves to 7-10 on the season and 6-3 in the CCC.

SCORING BY INNINGS:
Covington .............0..3..1..4..5..0..1..0..0..3 - 17-16-5
Tri-Village .............6..0..1..0..3..4..0..0..0..0 - 14-10-2