COVINGTON – The Covington Buccaneers had a strong showing in the first round of the sectional tournament by defeating Franklin Monroe 3-1 in front of the hometown fans.

The Buccs started off fast as the first three batters singled to load the bases with no outs – Carter Owens, Tyler Jay and Brairen Denson. Tyler Palsgrove then followed up with a line drive down the third base line that led to an error by Franklin Monroe as Carter Owens scored from third. The bases were still loaded with no outs.

The next three batters continued to pound the ball very hard, but unfortunately for Covington, Franklin Monroe made a double play and got a force out that prevented the Buccs from making further damage in the bottom of the first.

The Buccaneers took a 2-0 lead with a run scored by Grant Blore in the bottom of the second and pushed their advantage to 3-0 with a run in the bottom of the fifth scored by Brairen Denson.

Franklin Monroe was able to put a run on the board in the top of the sixth, but the pitching of Tyler Jay and the defense behind him limited any more scoring opportunities for the Jets.

Tyler Jay went the distance and allowed just four hits and walked just three batters. He struck out seven and the defense behind him didn’t commit a single error all night.

Covington connected on four hits and took advantage of four errors committed by Franklin Monroe. The hits came off the bats of Brairen Denson, Tyler Jay, Carter Owens and Ashton Skaggs.

Covington improves its record to 10-13 on the season, which is the first 10-win season for the Buccs since 2016.

Next the Buccaneers will play on May 20th against the winner of the game between Fort Loramie and Springfield Central Catholic.