BRANDT – Bethel played host to Covington on Thursday in a huge Three Rivers Conference battle where both teams entered the week tied in the top of the league standings. Covington dropped a close game to Troy Christian on Tuesday 6-3 making Thursday’s game that more beneficial for the Bees because a victory over the Buccs would give Bethel a two-game lead in the league standings.
And Bethel came through in clutch situations to run rule Covington 13-3 in five innings in a game that was a battle until the Bees scored seven runs in the bottom of the fifth to end matters.
Covington opened the game with momentum by scoring run in the top of the first, but Bethel responded quickly with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 3-1 lead.
After a scoreless second inning, the Bees took advantage of a dropped fly ball by Covington by scoring three more runs in the bottom of the third to take a 6-1 lead. Covington had a chance to score in the fourth, but Bethel threw a Buccaneer runner out at third to halt the threat. The Buccs were able to put themselves within striking distance by scoring two runs in the fifth to close the gap to 6-3.
As it had done earlier in the game, Bethel quickly reclaimed the momentum in the bottom of the fifth and never gave Covington another opportunity to get back into the game. The Bees pounded the ball at will and scored seven runs to walk off with a run-rule victory, 13-3.
Bethel connected on 14 hits to four for Covington. Noah MCann and Anderson Mohler both has three hits to lead the Bees, while Luke Gray and Colby Keiser had two hits each. Kyle Brueckman, Evan Goodman, Braylon Schroeder and Elijah Schroeder all had hits as well.
Christian Barker and Jack Iseminger combined for a four-hitter with Barker pitching the first three innings and Iseminger tossing the final two winnings.
The win boosts Bethel’s record to 8-7 overall and 7-1 in the TRC, which gives the Bees a two-game lead in the league standings over Covington and Troy Christian, who are both 5-3 in the league.
