April 17, 2009 - LEWISBURG
When Chloe Shell is in a groove on the mound and the hitters are hitting the ball all over the park, the Covington Lady Buccs are a tough team to beat.

Which is what Tri-County North found out on Friday as Covington run-ruled the Panthers 13-0 in five innings.

"We definitely hit the ball well tonight," said Covington coach Dean Denlinger after his team pounded out 14 hits. "And they (Tr-County North) are not a bad team. They put up 15 runs I think against Milton and beat Newton last year. That's a nice ball club with some nice athletes."

Shell went four innings on the mound and struck out six batters while allowing only two hits.

Kristen Boggs closed in the fifth and struck out two of the three batters she faced in the inning.

"Chloe threw a nice game," Denlinger praised of his starting pitcher. "North has some nice hitters, but Chloe kept them off balance all night."

While Shell was in command on the mound, the Lady Bucc defense was stellar behind her. The zero errors and the two outstanding catches by freshman Hannah Pond in right field was proof of that.

"Hannah made some outstanding plays in the outfield," said Denlinger. "It was early in the game, so if any of those drop, who knows what happens?"

That's because the game was tight early as Covington only held a 1-0 lead after two innings.

But a three-run third inning and an eight-run fourth inning put the Panthers in dire straights.

"When we scored all those runs in the third and fourth it sort of took the wind out of their sails," Denlinger said. "You could see them get down a little bit."

For good measure, Covington put another run on the board in the fifth.

Several Covington players had big days at the plate led by Kristen Boggs, who went 4-4 with a double and 3 RBI.

"I'd like to know what she's eating because Kristen is hitting the crap out of the ball," joked Denlinger. "She's really hitting the ball hard. The one she had for a double would have probably went over the batting cage at our place."

Halley Roberts was 3-3 with a stolen base, while Shelby Hoblit appears to be fully recovered from a knee injury with a 2-3, two RBI day.

"It's good to have Hobs back," Denlinger said. "This is only her second or third game where she can play all out."

Carole Bayse recorded a hit that drove in three runs, while Katie Dickey and Hannah Pond each had hits for two RBI.

Chloe Shell helped herself out with a base hit and an RBI and Michelle Leistner went 1-3.

"We had a lot of girls contribute at the plate," Denlinger stated. "That makes you tough to defend when you have that many kids hitting the ball like we did tonight."

The win improves Covington's record to 9-1 overall and 2-1 in the CCC.

But things don't get any easier as Covington travels to New Bremen for a double-header tomorrow.

"That will be a good test for us," said Denlinger in regards to facing New Bremen in a non-conference game. "We beat them 3-0 in a scrimmage earlier this year, but they are well coached and have a lot of athletes. That will be a good one."

Scoring by innings:
Covington ........................0...1...3...8...1 - 13 - 14 - 0
Tri-County North .............0...0...0...0...0 - 0 - 2 - 1