Covington baseball splits a doubleheader with Marion; Winfrey sets PR in shot put

Covington baseball closed the regular season on Friday night splitting a double header across the river against the Marion (Ark.) Patriots posting a final 15-11 record before the second season begins at at 0-0 in the postseason.

In the opener, Chargers took an early 2-0 lead in the 2^nd when Benjamin Smith homered following a Brennen Forbess single. The advantage grew to 3-0 in the 3^rd on a Christopher Smith double, a walk to Lane Butler, a wild pitch and a Holden Warmath sac fly.

The Patriots struck back in the bottom of the 2^nd with 2 runs of their own with a lone single complimented by 2 walks and 2 batters hit by a pitch.

The final runs scored were all Marion’s. Butler gave up a solo homer to lead off the Patriot 5^th that tied the score at 3. After a walk, Aaron Anglin came on in relief. A single and another walk loaded the bases. Anglin got the next 2 outs with a strikeout and an infield fly, but a single plated a pair of runs for a 5-3 lead that was not headed.

Butler took the loss allowing 7 hits and 4 runs with 4 strikeouts in 4.0 innings. Anglin went 3.0 innings giving up 1 run on 3 hits with 2 strikeouts.

CHS bounced back in the nightcap to have a 9-1 win to enjoy on the ride home.

Parker Davis was all over the scorebook in this one. At the plate he was 4 for 4 with 3 singles and a double, 2 runs scored and 3 RBI. On the mound, he limited the Patriots to 4 hits and 1 run in 6.0 innings of work during which he struck out 11. Jacob Walls tossed a clean 7^th with a strikeout.

Covington got all the runs needed in a 6-run 4^th inning. Singles by Warmath, Braden Gover and Davis added to a walk and a hit by pitch, a 2-run error and a pair of RBI producing ground outs did the damage.

Davis doubled and Gover singled him home for a 7-0 5^th inning lead. Ben Smith tripled in the 7^th. Davis singled him home and after advancing on a walk and a wild pitch, scored the final run of the game.

Due to tournament seeding concerns, a May 1 game with Arlington was canceled last week. When determined that the date would be available, CHS invited the Golden Tide from Trenton Peabody to have a last game before tournament play begins on Wednesday.

Peabody showed why it is the #1 ranked 1A team in Tennessee and how they deserve their record of 24-3. The Tide dropped the Chargers 16-6 in a 6 inning run rule affair. Peabody pounded out 16 hits in the win. Six CHS pitchers added in 11 walks and the defense made 6 errors to compound the carnage.

Covington jumped on top in the 1^st on a single by Chris Smith and a Lane Butler double. Peabody was scoreless through 2 innings before they scored 4 in the 3^rd to take the lead for good. The Chargers added single runs in the 3^rd and 4^th before a 3 run 5^th closed the gap to 9-6 on consecutive singles by  Braden Gover, Brennen Forbess, Ben Smith and Parker Davis plus a run on a passed ball.

Three Chargers had multiple hits in the game with Warmath, Ben Smith and Davis all collecting 2 hits apiece in 3 plate appearances. Jacob Walls took the loss going 2.2 innings allowing 4 runs on 5 hits with a strikeout.

The Chargers being play in the district tournament this week.

In track action:

The Lady Charger/Charger teams had a solid performance in the meet at Jackson University School on April 25. From among 25 teams participating, the Lady Chargers placed 4^th and the Chargers 6^th overall. Alexis Winfrey took fifth in the discus and six in the shot put. Her shot put was a personal record.