April 1, 2009 - WEST MILTON
Covington coach Dean Denlinger couldn't have asked for a better start to the season as his Lady Buccs won their second straight game on back-to-back nights for a 2-0 start.

Tuesday it was a 2-0 shutout win over Anna and Wednesday a 5-3 victory over Milton Union.

"Those are two nice wins over quality teams from higher divisions," said Denlinger. "The girls have excellent attitudes right now and their work ethic is outstanding. That's why we've been able to get out to a 2-0 start."

Covington has held its first two opponents scoreless in 13 of the 14 innings it has played thanks to stellar pitching by sophomore Chloe Shell and solid defensive play.

Against Milton, Shell struck out 14 of the 27 batters she faced and only surrendered one hit.

In two games Shell has 25 strikeouts and has only surrendered three hits and one earned run. She's also pitched all 14 innings.

"Chloe's doing a fine job," Denlinger praised. "She's in command of her pitches and is keeping hitter off balance."

Much of the success has to do with the job Sarah Westfall is doing behind the plate - a position that was a question coming into the season with Shelby Hoblit unable to catch.

"Sarah Westfall is doing a fabulous job catching," said Denlinger. "We were not sure about that position, but Sarah was willing to switch positions and she's been fabulous."

Covington had a big night offensively once again as it pounded out 12 hits on the afternoon.

"We're hitting the ball very well," said Denlinger. "Katie Dickey had a big night for us with some big hits."

Dickey was 3-4 with a single, double and a triple. She also scored one of Covington three runs in the top of the sixth.

Halley Roberts and Hannah Pond each went 2-3 with an RBI, while Westfall and Kristen Boggs were 2-4. Boggs had 2 RBI and Westfall also drove in a run.

"With the way we were hitting the ball we probably should have scored a few more runs," Denlinger stated. "But I was aggressive sending the girls on the base paths and we got caught a couple times."

Covington scored first in the second inning as Shelby Kihm singled and Hannah Pond brought her in after Shell moved her into scoring position with a base hit.

But it would take three scoreless inning before Covington could get rolling again.

Dickey opened the top of the sixth with a triple and Kristen Boggs followed with a base hit and a stolen base.

Sarah Westfall singled to score Boggs and then Halley Roberts connected for a base hit in the gap to score Westfall.

Milton responded with three runs in the bottom of the sixth, but Covington scored the insurance run in the top of the seventh for the 5-3 win.

Covington improves to 2-0 on the season and travels to Versailles on Friday and then at Lehman for a double header on Saturday.

Scoring by Innings:
Covington ...............0...1...0...0...0...3...1 - 5 - 12 - 2
Milton Union ...........0...0...0...0...0...3...0 - 3 - 1 - 0