The Shadow
They hit, they pitched and they played errorless baseball.
Those were the three key ingredients to Covington’s doubleheader sweep of the Eastern Montgomery Mustangs Monday at Casey Field.
Covington racked up 15 hits through two games, while Cougar pitchers limited the Mustangs to just five hits in the doubleheader.
Chad Lipes pitched four solid innings in Covington’s 6-3 win in the opener. Lipes hurled four innings of one-hit ball, striking out six and not issuing a free pass.
He was relieved by Colton Howard to start the fifth inning, but was brought back into the game with two outs to go after Howard ran into a jam.
“Chad continues to pitch really well for us,” stated Covington skipper Mick Strand.
While Lipes was keeping the Mustangs in check, his Cougar teammates were giving him plenty of run support.
Zack Humphries gave Covington a 3-0 lead with one swing of the bat in the top of the first after belting a three-run home run over the right field fence.
The Cougars added two more in the bottom of the third inning.
Matthew Myers coaxed his second walk of the game and Derek Dressler doubled to put both runners in scoring position.
Humphries plated Myers with a RBI groundout and Luke Crawford followed with a run-scoring single to increase Covington’s lead to 5-0.
Covington tacked on one more in the fifth when Myers singled and scored on Humphries’ RBI single.
The Mustangs (0-7) would notch three runs off Howard in the top of the fifth inning, but Lipes would record strikeouts seven and eight to end the jam after returning to the mound in relief of Howard.
Humphries paced the Cougars at the plate in game one with a 2-for-3, five RBI performance, including his three-run bomb.
“Zack really swung the bat well with five RBI in the first game,” said Strand.
Myers, Dressler and Crawford each had one hit with Myers scoring three runs and Crawford driving in one.
Crawford got the mound start in game two and picked up his first varsity mound win. He allowed two hits in three innings, while striking out three and not talking a batter as the Cougars routed the Mustangs 16-0 in four innings.
Kody McLaughlin pitched a perfect fourth inning in relief, striking out the first two batters he faced before recording a fly out to end the game.
“I’m proud of Luke for getting his first varsity win on the mound,” stated Strand. “He pitched a good game.”
Covington would use two big innings in this one to blow things open.
The Cougars took advantage of three walks and two hit batsmen to plate eight runs on four hits in the top of the first of the nightcap.
Lipes double and Myers and Dressler walked to load the bases before Humphries was hit by a pitch to push across a run. Crawford coaxed a RBI walk before Howard plated a run with a fielder’s choice.
Steven Blevins followed with a RBI single and McLaughlin was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Lipes followed with a two-run single and Myers backed that up with a two-run triple to end the damage.
The Covington defense turned in a nifty 1-6-3 double play to end the third inning and they used that momentum to fuel their eight-run fourth inning.
Steven Blevins led off the inning by legging out an infield single and Tom Straub and Jordan Miller walked to load the bases. Lipes plated Steven Blevins with a fielder’s choice and Daniel Blevins was hit by a pitch to load the bags.
Miller scored on a wild pitch before Dressler plated Lipes with a RBI double. Humphries walked to load the bases once again and Daniel Blevins would score on a wild pitch.
Crawford walked to load the bags for the fourth time in the inning before Hayden Rice recorded a two-run, pinch-hit double. John Roldan plated a run with a groundout and McLaughlin ended the damage with a RBI single to give the Cougars a 16-0 lead.
Steven Blevins and Lipes paced the Cougars at the plate in game two with 2-for-3 performances with Lipes scoring three runs and driving in three and Blevins scoring two and driving in one.
Myers, Dressler, Crawford, McLaughlin and Rice had one hit each with Myers and Rice driving in two apiece.
“We played great defense with no errors in either game and I thought we ran the bases well tonight,” stated Strand. “I was pleased with the way we swung the bats, but we will have to hit the ball better with runners in scoring position as we enter district play.”
Covington (4-3) returns to the diamond today as they travel to Salem to take on the Glenvar Highlanders. First pitch is slated for 5 p.m.
