It was the Lady Buccs of old on display as Covington rallied together as a team to hand Miami East its first conference loss, 5-4.

April 30, 2007 – COVINGTON
Friday's loss to Tri-Village could have been a crushing blow to the Covington Lady Buccs' season. Considering it was the second conference defeat and a four-game stretch consisting of the top teams in the CCC next on the schedule, the Lady Buccs needed a boost.

The got it from within as the seniors stepped to the forefront.

"After the Tri-Village game the senior spoke their minds," said Covington coach Lynnette Roeth. "They talked about playing harder, playing with more emotion and not taking things for granted. It's nice to see the seniors take charge."

Roeth couldn't have asked for a better result as her Lady Buccs defeated Miami East 5-4 by playing the same brand of Lady Bucc softball of past success - solid pitching, clutch hitting and making game-saving defensive plays.

"This was a big win for many reasons," said Roeth. "Not only did we give them (Miami East) their first conference loss, we just played hard. It was good to see."

Covington got on the scoreboard first with a three-run home run by Kristen Boggs in the bottom of the first inning.

But Miami East gradually chipped into the lead and eventually took a 4-3 lead in the top of the fifth thanks to some critical errors by Covington.

"That's been our downfall," Roeth said in regards to the errors. "We gave them two unearned runs on errors and that puts you in a tough position against a team like that."

Fortunately Covington was up to the task as it tied the score in the bottom of the fifth.

Neither team could score in the sixth to set up a thrilling finish.

Miami East had the go-ahead runners on base in the top of the seventh with one out. A fly ball to right field that appeared to be falling for a base hit was chased down by Michelle Barhorst on a diving catch. Barhorst then threw from her knees to first to record the double play and end the threat.

"That was a great play by Michelle," said Roeth of the senior outfielder. "Not only did she make a great catch, she was able to get the double play."

Two more seniors would step up in the bottom of the seventh.

The first senior, Kylie Lavey singled to start the inning and advanced to second on a sacrifice by Michelle Leistner.

The second senior, Jesie Jennings drilled a single to center to score Lavey for the winning run as the Covington bench poured onto the field in celebration.

"We know we can play with anybody," Roeth said. "All we have to do is cut down on the errors and put the bat on the ball."

Kristen Boggs picked up the win in relief of Jessica Shrout. The two combined to hold Miami East to just five hits on the afternoon.

Covington recorded seven hits with Michelle Barhorst going 2 for 3, Kristen Boggs hitting a home run and Erin Christian pounding out a double.

Covington improves to 9-3 on the season and 6-2 in the CCC. The Lady Buccs host Ansonia on Tuesday.

Scoring by Innings:
Miami East ...........0....0....1....2....1....0....0 - 4
Covington ............3....0....0....0....1....0....1 - 5