MAY 7, 2009 - COVINGTON
The tears on senior Michelle Leistner's face said it all as she was introduced by coach Dean Denlinger as the Lady Buccs honored their senior class prior to a critical CCC match-up with state-ranked Ansonia.

They were tears of passion - a passion for the game and each other - a passion that symbolizes this year's Lady Buccs softball team.

And that passion carried over to the game as Covington captured a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Lady Tigers.

"This was a very nice win," said Denlinger. "These were two really good teams going at it and it was a great game."

Ansonia pitcher Brittany Mayo was phenomenal. The senior struck out 11 batters and allowed just two hits on the afternoon.

But those two hits were the difference in the game.

Neither team could score through three innings and Covington came to bat in the bottom of the fourth after holding the Lady Tigers scoreless in the top of the inning.

Michelle Leistner got things started by battling her way to a one-out walk, which gave Covington just its second base runner of the game.

After Mayo disposed of thee next batter, another Covington senior came to the plate - Kristen Boggs.

Boggs had struck out earlier on a rise ball, but took that lesson to her second at bat by drilling a line shot into the gap in left-center.

Leistner used her speed to score from first as Boggs stretched her hit into a double.

Halley Roberts followed with a double of her own to score Boggs and give Covington a 2-0 lead.

"She (Mayo) is a nice pitcher and she made us work (at the plate)," Denlinger said. "The two hits we got were big ones though."

Ansonia responded with a big hit of its own in the top of the fifth by taking a high fastball from Covington starter Chloe Shell over the center field fence to cut the margin to 2-1.

And Denlinger had a bad feeling even before the pitch left Shell's hand.

"That (the home run) was on me," said Denlinger. "I called a high fastball on the hands and I knew I made a mistake when Chloe was in her windup. That was all on me."

Denlinger didn't make any more mistakes and Shell was stellar on the mound through six and one-third innings.

The sophomore faced 22 batters and allowed just three hits despite only striking out one batter. That meant she hit her spots and forced Ansonia to hit the pitches she wanted - allowing her defense do the job behind her.

And the Lady Bucc Defense was unbelievably sound as several big plays were made in the infield and the outfield.

"Our defense was darn good," praised Denlinger. "Katie Dickey made a shoe-string catch in center field. Michelle Leistner made a diving snag at second base. Hannah Pond had to cover a lot of ground to make a big catch in right. Kristen Boggs made some very nice plays at short. And Carole Bayse played like a girl possessed at third base. Our defense was outstanding."

After getting the first out in the top of the seventh, Shell surrendered just the third hit to the second batter.

She then fell behind in the count to the third batter 2-0 and Denlinger took action. He brought in Halley Roberts in from left field to close the show and preserve the outstanding effort of Shell.

"It was a gut feeling," Denlinger explained. "I felt we needed to change things up and bring Halley in. It was a situation where you are a hero or a goat at that point. Fortunately things worked out in our favor."

That's because Roberts mowed down the two batters she faced to preserve the 2-1 victory and record the save.

The victory improves Covington's record to 18-2 overall and 8-1 in the Cross County Conference.

The Lady Buccs host Twin Valley South tomorrow in another critical conference matchup.

SCORING BY INNINGS:
Ansonia ..............0...0...0...0...1...0...0 - 1 - 3 - 0
Covington ..........0...0...0...2...0...0...x - 2 - 2 - 1