CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Montgomery Central baseball faced Covington High on Tuesday. The Indians came up short of a comeback in the first round of the state tournament. They lost by a score of 1-3.

Aidan Karns took the mound for Montgomery Central, and the pitcher faced adversity to open up the first couple of innings. The first three batters for Covington all reached base. This was due to an error, single and walk.

In a bases loaded situation, Karns minimized damage with zero outs in the inning. Montgomery Central escaped with allowing only two runs to score.

After a shaky start, Karns settled down throughout the rest of the contest. He allowed only one more run to score, and it was unearned. Karns went the distance and finished with 6 innings pitched, 7 strikeouts, 1 earned run, 2 hits and 2 walks.

However, his quality start was not enough. Montgomery Central could not find a rhythm on offense, even though they finished with more hits than Covington. The Indians produced one run in the sixth inning after a pair of singles and an error by the opposing team. Nevertheless, this was their only run of the ballgame. Covington held on to win the game by two runs.

Coaches corner

“We lost to a good team,” said Montgomery Central head coach Todd Dunn. “We’ve played a lot of good teams this year, and tonight we came up just short. Karns pitched great throughout the game. They just made a couple more plays than we did and held on to win.

“Some people don’t believe we are talented enough to be here, but they are 100 percent wrong. We not only have the right to be here, but we have the talent to win the whole tournament,” Dunn said.

The Indians face Tennessee High in an elimination game on Wednesday. The contest is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. as Montgomery Central looks to keep their postseason alive.