COVINGTON – Miami East suffered a frustrating 6-5 loss to Covington on Thursday in a game where the Vikings allowed five unearned runs due to four errors in the field.
The miscues put pitcher Connor Apple in tough situations, but Apple threw well by allowing just two earned run in six innings. He struck out ten batters and walked just two batters.
Offensively, the Vikings had golden opportunities to break the game open, but left a total of 10 batters on base.
The trend started in the first when Miami East had runners on second and third with nobody out. Covington threw a Vikings runner out at home on a fielders choice and then followed by forcing an infield pop up. Covington then threw out a Viking runner at second to end the threat.
Miami East scored three runs in the second. After an error and a walk, East connected on four straight singles to take a 3-0 lead.
Covington responded in the bottom of the third with two runs, but Miami East pushed its lead to 4-2 with a run in the top of the fourth.
The Buccs scored a run in the bottom of the fourth and then had a huge three-run inning in the fifth thanks to several Viking mistakes. Covington loaded the bases with one out and then played down a bunt where Miami East overthrew the catcher in an attempt to get a force out, which resulted in two Buccaneers scoring on the play. Covington then scored on a passed ball to take a 6-4 lead.
Miami East battled back by loading the bases and scored on a walk to cut the deficit to 6-5. Unfortunately the Vikings left three runners stranded.
The Vikings had one more opportunity at the plate in the top of the seventh, but two batters struck out and the final batter popped up to second for the final out.
The loss drops Miami East to 3-4 overall and 2-4 in the TRC.
