MAY 4, 2009 - BRANDT
Covington coach Dean Denlinger has stressed to his team the importance of being ready to play under any circumstances if his talented group has any aspirations of accomplishing any lofty goals - including a Cross County Conference championship and a long tournament run.

With a brutal schedule this week with critical conference match-ups, Denlinger was pleased to see his team focused and ready to play against conference rival Bethel.

"The girls were ready to play today and it showed," said Denlinger. "Anytime you can get 19 hits, score 17 runs and have no errors, you have to be happy. We did some nice things today."

The result was a 17-0 shut out in five innings over the host Lady Bees as eleven Covington hitters contributed in the box score with hits.

"It's good to see all of the kids contribute like they did tonight," Denlinger said. "We hit the ball very well."

Sarah Westfall had a big afternoon by driving in a team high four runs on a 2-4 effort at the plate. Kristen Boggs also had a big afternoon with 3 RBI on three hits.

Michelle, Leistner, Katie Dickey, Halley Roberts, Shelby Kihm and Shelby Hoblit all doubled in the contest, while Carole Bayse connected on a triple.

Hannah Pond, Chloe Shell and Halley Smith also contributed with base hits as well.

Plus, Covington received a strong pitching effort from Chloe Shell, Halley Roberts and Kristen Boggs as thr trio combined for eight strikeouts in a three-hitter.

To top it off, the Lady Bucc defense was stellar once again with no errors in the field.

"We're playing pretty well right now," Denlinger explained. "But we have a heck of a schedule this week, so we have to stay focused like we were tonight. I feel we can beat anybody if we play like we are capable of. And on the flip side, we can be beat by anybody if we don't play well."

Covington, now 16-2 overall and 6-1 in the CCC, travels to Tri-Village tomorrow.

Scoring by Innings:
Covington ..........0...5...4...8...0 - 17 - 19 - 0
Bethel .................0...0...0...0...0 - 0 - 3 - 1