The Covington Lady Buccs will have another banner hanging on the wall, but fell short in their quest to reach the state tournament.

It was a look of disappointment, disbelief, and heartbreak - which is understandable considering the Lady Buccs had a birth in the Regional Final on Saturday within their grasp with a 3-2 lead heading into the top of the fifth inning.

But Triad tied the score with a run in the fifth and then exploded for five more runs in the top of the seventh to blow the game open and seal Covington's fate.

"The girls wanted this game so bad," said Covington coach Lynnette Roeth. "They really wanted to continue the season and get to state."

The difference in the contest was the outstanding defensive play of Triad and Covington's mistakes in the field at critical points in the game.

"Sometimes when you want something so bad, you try too hard," Roeth explained. "We made some mistakes at bad times. Instead of just playing the way we know how, we were trying too hard."

Two mistakes came in the opening inning on fly balls that were misread in the outfield. The result was a 2-0 Triad lead before Covington even came to the plate.

But the Lady Buccs responded in the bottom half of the first as Jesie Jennings reach on a walk and moved to third on a single by Michelle Barhorst. Jennings then scored on a wild pitch as she slid head first into home to beat the tag.

Jennings, bloody elbows and all, ignited Covington with her hustle.

"That (Jennings run) kind of got us going," Roeth said. "We were able to hold them and get the lead in the third."

Katie Dickey led off the third inning with a double to center field and then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Michelle Leistner.

Jesie Jennings singled to score Dickey and then moved to third on a double by Michelle Barhorst that bounced off the left field fence.

Kristen Boggs followed with a line shot to right field to score Jennings and give Covington a 3-2 lead.

"We hit the ball very well," stated Roeth. "We only struck out twice all afternoon, so we were hitting the ball."

Unfortunately for Covington, Triad's defense was as stingy as ever. The visitors on the scoreboard didn't have a single error the entire game and made some circus catches to steal potential base hits.

Still, Jessica Shrout was in command on the mound for Covington and kept the score at 3-2 into the top of the fifth.

But mistakes began to hit Covington hard with two outs in the fifth as a Triad runner beat out a routine throw to first that scored the tying run.

After a scoreless sixth inning, Triad scored five more runs in the seventh, two of those coming on passed balls at the plate.

"It came down to they (Triad) didn't make any mistakes in the field and we did," Roeth said. "That was the difference in the game."

Despite the loss, Roeth had nothing but praise for the effort her kids gave in defeat.

"I'm so proud of these kids," she said. "We played hard. Maybe we tried too hard. But these girls accomplished a lot this year and faced a lot of adversity. Through it all they showed character and class."

She also had praise for the four seniors who have meant so much to the program.

"Each one of the seniors will be missed," Roeth continued. "They've played a lot of softball for this program. Sarah (Ciriegio), Michelle (Barhorst), and Kylie (Lavey) are four-year players and Jesie (Jennings) is a three-year player. They have meant so much to our program."

Covington ends its season with a 15-6 record.

Scoring by innings:
Triad ................2......0......0......0......1......0......5 - 8
Covington .........1......0......2......0......0......0......0 - 3