April 26, 2008 – COVINGTON
Covington coach Dean Denlinger has had a lot on his mind since a 10-0 loss to Arcanum in which injuries took a toll on his pitching staff and his starting catcher.

Fortunately, he has had younger players step up each night since and the result has been six straight wins in sixth days.

"It's something we've battled through," said Denlinger in regards to the injury bug. "Jessica (Shout), Kristen (Boggs) and Erin (Christian) have been banged up for some time, but we've managed to stay focused and move forward."

Saturday's double-header with a very powerful Milton-Union teams was much of the same as Denlinger had several kids make big plays in a two-game sweep of the Lady Bulldogs.

It started with freshman Chloe Shell, who has pitched now in five straight games.

Shell threw all ten innings of the first game, recording nine strikeouts and allowing just two walks.

"Chloe continues to pitch very well," Denlinger praised. "That is a very high-powered offensive team that is well coach by Shawna Martins. For Chloe and our defense to hold then to one run in the first seven innings is phiniminal."

Milton scored the first run of the afternoon with a solo home run by Witmer in the top of the first inning.

Covington tied the score at 1-1 in the third and the score remained the same after seven innings of play.

Each team matched the other's offensive output by scoring two runs a piece in the eighth and four runs each in the ninth.

After Covington held Milton scorless in the top of the tenth, the Lady Buccs put the game away in thrilling fashion.

Katie Dickey drilled a clutch base hit with two outs to bring pinch-hitter Carole Bayse to the plate.

The sophomore drilled a towering shot over the center field fence for a walk-off home run and a 9-7 Covington victory.

"After the top of the tenth Craig Maschino (Covington's assistant coach) came up to me and asked about using Bayse as a pinch hitter," Denlinger explained. "Carole has some power, so when Dickey got on I thought 'What the heck', and we put her in."

The strategy worked to perfection.

"She really got all of that one," Denlinger continued. "Normally when someone hits a home run like that they stroll around the bases. Carole was so excited she sprinted around the bases. I've never seen her run so fast. The kids were pumped up. The crowd was pumped up. It was really neat."

Kristen Boggs also homered in the first contest as Covington pounded out 10 hits in the first game against a top-notch Milton pitcher.

"Jade Clark is one of the best pitchers in the area," Denlinger praised. "She kept us off balance in the first five or six innings, but we were finally able to get something going late in the game."

The momentum carried over to the second game for Covington as it scored 10 runs in the first inning.

Four of those came on a grand slam by another sophomore, Shelby Hoblit.

Hoblit ended up with two of Covington's five home runs on the afternoon.

"We've made some adjustments with her swing," Denlinger said. "She hitting the ball with confidence now."

The other home runs for Covington came from Erin Christian, Bayse and Boggs.

"We hit the crap out of the ball today," stated Denlinger. "We had 22 hits today and scored 25 runs."

Jessica Shrout also made her first appearance after sitting out six games and pitched three innings.

"It was really good to see her back out there," Denlinger said. "She's not fully healthy, but she gives us everything she has."

Sarah Westfall relieved Shrout in the fourth and finished the game.

"That was the first time she's pitched all year and she did a nice job," said Denlinger. "We had four errors in the field, so we didn't help out our pitchers very well defensively."

Still, Covington had enough offensive firepower to overcome 10 runs and 11 hits by Milton and capture the 16-10 win.

"I'm very impressed with Milton," complimented Denlinger. "They've beaten a lot of good teams and only has a few losses on their record. That's a good softball team."

The Milton defense was nearly flawless on the afternoon as it committed just one error in the two contest.

"They are a very good defensive team," continued Denlinger. "That's overlooked because they are so potent offensively. Shawna Martins does a fine job over there."

The victories improve Covington to 12-6 on the season and extends its winning streak to six games.

The Lady Buccs travel to Newton on Monday for a huge Cross County Conference contest.

FIRST GAME SCORING:
Milton ...............1...0...0...0...0...0...0...2...4...0 - 7 .. 13 .. 1
Covington ........0...0...1...0...0...0...0...2...4...2 - 9 .. 10 .. 0

SECOND GAME SCORING:
Milton ...............0...4...0...5...0...1...0 - 10 .. 11 .. 0
Covington .....10...3...2...1...0...0...0 - 16 .. 12 .. 4