MAY 2, 2009 - COVINGTON
There's an expectation for Covington softball of doing the little things well is the way to win games and ultimately championships.

That means being ready to play every night, the pitchers hitting their spots, the defense not beating themselves with mental mistakes and executing at the plate.

What Covington coach Dean Denlinger saw Friday night in a loss to Fort Loramie was anything but Lady Bucc softball. But Saturday's effort in beating Troy 2-0 and Franklin Monroe 9-0 was a source of redemption for the team as it corrected the mistakes that beat them a day earlier.

"We learned from our mistakes," said Denlinger. "The girls were focused and ready to play today and it showed on the field."

Covington, who is making up for lost time due to several cancellations of games, opened the day with an impressive 2-0 shutout over a very much improved Troy team.

"Troy has improved so much since we played them in a scrimmage earlier in the year," praised Denlinger. "Dan Cain has really done a great job with those girls over there. We beat them something like 18-4 in the scrimmage. It's really impressive to see how much they've improved since and I honestly believe they are the most underrated team in the area."

Covington started the contest with a run in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by Katie Dickey, which drove in Hannah Pond, who led off the inning with a drag.

"Hannah has been playing very well and I wanted to see how she would dod as a leadoff batter today," Denlinger explained. "Normally Michelle Leistner leads off, but I wanted to get a good look how Pond would respond to that responsibility, which is a big one for a freshman. And, you know, she did a good job."

Covington increased its lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the second as Chloe Shell opened the inning with a single and Carole Bayse drove her in with a double.

But that would be all of the scoring the rest of the way as both team's pitching and defense dominated the remainder of the contest.

"It's not like we didn't hit the ball against Troy. They played great defense and their pitcher threw a nice game," Denlinger explained. "I'm telling you, that is a very well coached softball team at Troy."

Covington racked up seven hits against Troy and didn't commit a single error.

Chloe Shell was phenominal on the mound as well, pitching all seven innings. She allowed just three hits in the shutout and didn't allow a single walk, while striking out six batters.

"Chloe did a nice job of keeping them off balance," said Denlinger. "But our defense backed up our pitchers today and that was the key. When our defense is fundamentally sound, we are usually successful."

Covington dominated the second game of the afternoon against Franklin Monroe, 9-0 as pitching and defense once again set the tone.

Neither team could scoring the the opening inning, but Covington was able to manufacture a run in the bottom of the second to gain some momentum.

With Chloe Shell perched on third base, Shelby Hoblit battled off several pitches before drawing a walk. Instead of stopping at first base, Hoblit headed toward second. As Franklin Monroe bit on the bait in trying to throw Hoblit out at second, Shell snuck in and scored ahead of the throw at home.

This sparked Covington as it rolled to five runs in the third to break the game open and three more runs in the sixth to seal the contest.

Meanwhile, Halley Roberts and the Lady Bucc defense controlled the Franklin Monroe hitters, holding the Jets to just two hits in the contest. Roberts went six innings and struck out eight without allowing a single walk.

Kristen Boggs came in to pick up the save, despite allowing the only walk of the day.

"Our pitchers did a fabulous job today, especially hitting the pitches we call," Denlinger said. "We didn't walk any batters until the seventh inning of the second game, and that's just outstanding."

Roberts helped herself out at the plate in game two as she tripled and recorded three RBI.

Kristen Boggs also had a big game at the plate against Franklin Monroe as she went 2-3 with two RBI.

Also pounding in runs in the contest were Chloe Shell, Shelby Hoblit and Sarah Westfall.

In the end, Covington extended its record to 15-2 overall and 5-1 in the Cross County Conference with the win over Franklin Monroe.

And, the way Covington responded from a bad loss only helps considering some huge conference games are on the horizon. The Lady Buccs still have to face Ansonia, Newton and Twin Valley South, teams tied with them at the top of the standings.

"We have a big week ahead of us with Bethel, Tri-Village, Newton and Ansonia," stated Denlinger. "We have to be ready to play because those are all big games. Every game from her on out is a big game and we can't look at it any other way."

And Denlinger wouldn't have it any other way as the tournament is right around the corner.

FIRST GAME SCORING:
Troy ...................0...0...0...0...0...0...0 - 0 - 3 - 1
Covington .........1...1...0...0...0...0...x - 2 - 7 - 0

SECOND GAME SCORING:
Franklin Monroe .........0...0...0...0...0...0...0 - 0 - 2 - 3
Covington ....................0...1...5...0...0...3...x - 9 - 7 - 1