COVINGTON — Sometimes a team has to learn the hard way. North Montgomery coach Matt Voorhees hopes his Chargers learn from a 7-5 loss to Covington.
“Sometimes when players thing they are superior to their opponent, which our guys apparently did, that can sneak up and bit you,” Voorhees said. “I think that is what happened tonight. We never did look focused and made too many mistakes on the bases and in the field.”
Voorhees was quick to compliment the Trojans who won evened their record to 4-4 with the victory.
“Hats off to Covington”, the Charger coach said. “They made plays and got some big hits. They played well.”
The Chargers first at-bat was a preview of what was to come. A line drive resulted in a Charger base runner being thrown out as he tried to get back to his base. North Montgomery ended up losing a total of five base runners in the game, including one each in the first, second, third, and sixth inning. Two runners were thrown out trying to steal second, two runners did not get back to the bag on popup put outs, and one runner got a late start trying to advance to third and was thrown out.
“We were sluggish the whole game,” Voorhees said. “We were atrocious on the bases, lackadaisical and made poor decisions.
The Chargers also had trouble making defensive plays. North Montgomery (6-2) committed four errors and two popups in the in foul play were not caught giving the Trojans new life. Both times, the Covington player was able to produce with a hit that resulted in an RBI.
Covington plated one run in each of the first two innings, and score two in both the third and fourth innings. Covington collected eight hits against three Charger hurlers forcing the visitors to play catchup the entire game.
The Chargers got on the board in the fourth inning when Cade Cole had North’s first hit of the game. Brooks Walters promptly put a fastball over the left field fence which trimmed the Covington lead to 4-2.
The Chargers’ biggest threat came in the fifth inning. North loaded the bases with no out. However Covington got out of the inning allowing only one run.
North Montgomery relief pitcher Austin Sulc entered the game in the fourth inning and got the final two outs when Covington chased relief pitcher Corbin Meadows. Sulc pitched a scoreless inning in the fifth, but Covington added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to a Charger throwing error.
North Montgomery starting pitcher Roman Utterback was forced to leave the game after one inning with a pain in his elbow.
Meadows took the loss for North Montgomery.
Covington starter Karver Fye pitched four innings allowing only three hits and two runs before being relieved by freshman Kyven Hall who picked up the win. Karver Fye, pitched the final inning and recorded a save.
North Montgomery did have two runners on base in the top of the seventh inning but was not able to score.
The Chargers, who fall to 6-2 on the season with the loss, must regroup quickly because they play Lafayette Jefferson at Loeb Stadium at 10 a.m. today.
“It is good for the kids to go play a quality team like Lafayette Jeff and get to play in Loeb Stadium”, Voorhees said. “I know we will bounce back and play better against Jeff. The guys know they didn’t play their best tonight, and I think they will come out ready to play tomorrow.
