April 3, 2008 – COVINGTON
Covington and Triad have faced each other in big games before. Unfortunately for the Lady Buccs, Triad has been a thorn in the side as the Cardinals ended Covington's season a year ago in the regional tournament.

Thursday's contest between the two was much the same as Triad was always a step ahead en route to a 12-7 win on Covington's home field.

"Defensively, we didn't come to play," said Covington coach Dean Denlinger. "We hit the ball well and put some runs on the board, but we gave them too many extra opportunities with our defensive mistakes."

Covington only had one error, but the defensive mistakes Denlinger referred to didn't go down in the books.

"It was a lack of hustle in the outfield," he explained. "There were a number of balls we should have caught out there. I was very disappointed in our outfield play."

Covington started the game off the way it wanted by scoring a run in the first on an RBI single by Erin Christian.

But like it has done in the past, Triad responded in the second with five runs - three of those coming on a three-run homer by Ashley Herron.

"They (Triad) can hit the ball well," Denlinger complimented. "On the home run, it was a slider that was belt high that was suppose to be down to the knee. She (Herron) just sat on it and drove it over the right field fence."

Covington battled back in the bottom of the third with four runs to tie the score at 5-5.

"We showed some heart to come back like that and I like to see that," said Denlinger.

But once again, Triad used a big inning to put separation on the scoreboard by scoring five more runs to take a 10-5 lead.

Covington cut the margin to 10-7 with two runs in the fifth, but Triad sealed the contest with its final two runs in the sixth.

"It was the ten runs in the two innings that hurt us," recapped Denlinger. "If we make a play here or there it could have been a different story. That's why you have to play with heart and intensity all the time."

Erin Christian went 2-for-3 with and RBI, while Kristen Bogs was 2-for-4 (2 RBI) and Chloe Shell went 1-for-2 (1RBI).

Covington drops to 1-1 and looks to rebound tomorrow against Versailles.

Scoring by Innings:
Triad ..............0...5...0...5...0...2...0 - 12...12...2
Covington .......1...0...4...0...2...0...0 - 7...9...1