MAY 18, 2009 - BRANDT
It wasn't suppose to end this way for the Covington Lady Buccs - not a 2-1 defeat in the sectional final at Bethel High School - and not with two straight defeats after compiling a 22-2 record and recording 16 shutouts throughout the year.

And one of those shutout victories came against the same Twin Valley South team that ended Covington's season tonight.

"It's been an emotional week, but we don't use excuses (for a loss)," said Covington coach Dean Denlinger. "We flat out got beat 2-1 in ten innings and that's all there is to it. Actually, I feel I got out coached 2-1."

Covington got on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning as Michelle Leistner reached on a walk and then stole second. Katie Dickey followed with an RBI single, one of just five hits for Covington on the night.

But that was the only scoring for the Lady Buccs in the contest.

"We didn't execute offensively very well," Denlinger said. "We had four or five bunt attempts we didn't get down. If we get just two or three of those, we win this game 3-1 or 4-1 in seven innings."

Still, the one-run Covington lead stood until the bottom of the seventh inning as Chloe Shell was dominant on the mound - holding South to just three hits.

But a critical error by Covington on a routine ground ball turned the tide as South was able to score the tying run to send the game into extra innings.

"We just had the one error, but it was a big one," said Denlinger. "That should have been the second out of the inning and we would have gotten the third out to end the game."

Instead, the game went three more innings as neither team could score until South scored the winning run in the bottom of the tenth.

"I didn't want this to end," Denlinger said. "I sat in the dugout for a good 20 minutes after the game. This is such a great group of girls - I just didn't want it to end."

The loss is even more painful because it means the end of the career for a talented senior class.

"This senior class is a very quality group," Denlinger praised. "They led by example in everything they did. It's going to take a good two to three months for me to get over this because I'm going to miss those girls. It's tough."

Covington's season ends at 22-4, but the emotional week continues.

SCORING BY INNINGS:
Covington ..............1...0...0...0...0...0...0...0...0...0 - 1 - 5 - 1
TV South ................0...0...0...0...0...0...1...0...0...1 - 2 - 4 - 0