March 31, 2009 - COVINGTON
Chloe Shell was in a zone on the mound Tuesday in Covington's season opener as she struck out 11 of the 22 batters she faced in recording a 2-0 shutout victory over the Anna Rockets. The sophomore hurler only allowed two hits on the day and didn't give up a single walk.

"That was an impressive performance by Chloe," said a very please Covington coach Dean Denlinger. "She was on tonight."

And she needed to be as the weather was unpredictable from inning-to-inning as the sun would come out and minutes later it would be raining.

"For her to do what she did with the weather like it was, that was what was most impressive," Denlinger continued. "She battled the rain today."

Covington's hitting was also impressive against a team that recorded a no-hitter just 24 hours earlier against Botkins.

The Lady Buccs pounded out seven hits and could have had several more if a strong wind out of the south didn't hold the ball up.

"Man, we could have had four or five more hits and maybe a few go over the fence if the wind didn't hold the ball up," Denlinger said. "We really hit the ball well tonight."

Covington recorded its first run in the opening inning as Michelle Leistner reached base on a walk and then stole second.

Katie Dickey perfectly executed a drag bunt and Sarah Westfall followed with a sacrifice RBI.

It took until the bottom of the sixth for Covington to threaten again as Westfall doubled to start the inning.

Freshman Shelby Kihm singled to put runners at the corners and another freshman, Hannah Pond singled up the middle to score Westfall with two outs.

Covington nearly scored a third run, but Kihm was thrown out at the plate on the RBI single by Pond.

"That was on me," said Denlinger. "I took a big chance by sending Kihm because I knew it was going to be close. Their second baseman didn't handle the ball cleanly, so I took the chance and sent her."

And Kihm was on the move as she nearly ran Denlinger and the umpire over on her way to the plate.

"I call her 'Big Cat'," laughed Denlinger. "She was chuggin' around the bases and almost ran me over and the umpire."

The second run was all Covington would need for insurance as Shell shut down the side in the top of the seven to record the win.

"This is a good win because we've already had some adversity we've had to face," said Denlinger. "We're already short in numbers and we have two freshman starting, so anytime you can get a win over a team like Anna you have to be pleased."

Halley Roberts went 2-3 on the day, while Sarah Westfall, Shelby Kihm, Michelle Leistner and Katie Dickey went 1-3.

Hannah Pond was 1-2 with one sacrifice and one RBI.

Covington (1-0) travels to Milton Union tomorrow.

Scoring by Innings:
Anna ................0....0....0....0....0....0....0 - 0
Covington .......1....0....0....0....0....1....- - 2