The District 7-5A race continued to heat up Monday as the Covington Lions traveled to Slidell and handed the Tigers their third league loss of the season.

With the 10-6 win, Covington (17-11) and Slidell each have 5-3 district records.

Monday’s contest was a make-up game following Saturday’s rain out. Shad de St. Germain started on the mound for Slidell, and Covington countered with Stevie Sharp.

But it was the Lion offense and walks by the Slidell pitching staff that would make the difference. Covington scored in five of seven innings, and Tiger pitching gave up seven walks.

The first inning set the tone of the game as Lion second sacker Colt Bruhl connected on a de St. Germain fastball and drove it over the left field fence, driving in Brady King, who had singled.

However, the Lion’s 2-0 lead was short lived as the Tigers roared back with two runs of their own in the first. De St. Germain singled, and James Davis walked. Chad Livingston then ripped a two-run double to tie it at 2-2.

Covington broke the tie in its half of the second on a solo homer by third baseman Danny Dragon.

Slidell came right back in the bottom of the second, scoring two runs. Following a double by Blake Forbis and a walk to Nathan Reis, de St. Germain helped his own cause with a two-run double to regain the lead at 4-3.

The turning point of the game came with the bases loaded and two Tiger outs. Sean Nelson lined a screamer to center field that looked to be in the gap, but Lion right fielder Hunter Anthony made a diving catch to end the Tiger threat.

Randall Meyer came on in relief of de St. Germain in the third inning but couldn’t stop the Lions. Bruhl opened with a walk, and Brady King reached on an error. Anthony collected an RBI single to put two men on base. Jeffry Joiner then lifted a sacrifice fly to right that scored Bruhl as the scoreboard now showed Covington up 5-4.

The Lions padded their lead to 7-4 in the fifth inning on an Anthony two-run homer. But Slidell cut into the Covington lead, using singles by Nelson and Lance Swearns and a Lion error to narrow the gap to 7-5.

Jordan Olsen came on in relief of Meyer in the sixth and held the Lions scoreless. The Tigers got another run when Shane Riedie drove in de St. Germain with an infield single to move to 7-6. But that would be as close as they would get.

Mike Reich came on in the seventh inning after two walks and a sacrifice bunt off Olsen. Reich almost got out of the inning unscathed, but with two outs Lion pitcher Sharp smacked a hanging curve ball for a double that drove in two runs. Matt Conn came on to relieve Reich and gave up a single to Dragon. The ball got under the glove of Tiger outfielder Meyer, allowing Sharp to score and increase the margin to 10-6, which held up in the seventh.

De St. Germain took the loss with Sharp (6-3) getting the complete game nod. Anthony was 3- for-3 with three RBIs, while Dragon also went 3-for-3 with two RBIs. De St. Germain was 3-for-3 with two runs batted in to lead the Tigers.

Tiger coach Sam Abney was disappointed in his team’s performance.

“We had our chances out there today. When you walk seven batters bad things usually happen. We just need to do a better job,” he said.

On the other side of the diamond, Lion coach Jeff Dragg was excited with his club’s play.

“Stevie (Sharp) did a fine job for us today. He was way above the pitch count that we like to see, but I just didn’t want to pull him. Our kids were seeing the ball well today, and I was surprised with the three home runs.”