The Shadow
STRASBURG – Trailing by a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning the Strasburg Express put across four runs to give their team the only lead they needed as they handed the Covington Lumberjacks (5-7) a 5-3 loss on Thursday, June 15th.
Answering the call was the theme of the night in Strasburg on Thursday. After having had retaken the lead in top of the fifth inning the Lumberjacks for second time in the game saw their slim lead fade away before the could even enjoy it.
Strasburg would go on to score all four runs in the fifth inning with two outs. Ty Hooks got the scoring going with an RBI single. Two batters later Mitchell Smith walked with the bases loaded with brought home the tying run.
With the bases loaded still and two outs in the inning Luke Jenkins ripped a go-ahead two-run single to put the Express up 5-3. It would be the teams only lead of the game as they would hold the Lumberjacks scoreless over the next four innings.
Twice in the game Covington had Strasburg’s backs against the wall. Luke Smith put the Lumberjacks ahead 1-0 in the top of the first inning. That lead was short-lived as the Express answered quickly in the bottom half of the inning when Smith brought in Hooks to score on a ground out.
The second time the Express answered the Lumberjacks was of course in the fifth inning. Both AJ Fiechter and Michael Pavelchak scored on fielding errors which had put the team ahead 3-1 before the Express rallied with their four-run inning moments later.
While Julian Costa earned the win after five solid innings where he gave up three runs (one earned) on four hits, it was the Strasburg bullpen that really was the key to the teams victory. The bullpen behind Heath Clevenger and Ryan Desanto combined to throw four shutout innings where they gave up only a pair of hits, and struck out eight batters. Desanto picked up the save. Of his six outs recorded, five of those outs were strikeouts.
Outside of Feichter and Smith, it was a long night at the plate for Covington. Feichter and Smith had four of the teams six hits. The rest of the Lumberjacks lineup went a combined 2-for-25. Grant Adams dropped to 0-2 on the mound after allowing four runs on three hits in 4.2 innings.
The loss was the Lumberjacks third in their last four games.
Covington 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 – 3 6 0
Strasburg 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 x – 5 6 2
W – Cost. L – Adams. S – Desanto
