MAY 19, 2010 - BRANDT
The Covington Lady Buccs broke open a scoreless game with a run in the fifth and four more in the sixth to defeat Arcanum for the sectional championship at Bethel High School on Wednesday. The victory avenged a 2-1 defeat to Arcanum earlier in the season.

"We hit the ball against them the first time, but couldn't score runs," said Covington coach Dean Denlinger. "Tonight we were able to get some runs."

The runs didn't come easily, however, as Covington left six runners stranded in the first four innings, including bases loaded in the bottom of the second.

Fortunately for Covington, Chloe Shell was in peak performance on the mound and the Lady Bucc defense was tack sharp behind her. Shell threw a two-hitter, while the defense didn't commit a single miscue in the field.

"Her drop ball was working very well," said Denlinger of Shell. "Her curveball was on too. We only threw one change up all night.

Shell faced 23 batters, striking out five and didn't surrender any walks.

"They (Arcanum) were able to put the ball in play," Denlinger continued. "But we played extremely focused defensively - just great defense behind her (Shell). We made a lot of plays."

While Shell and the Covington defense kept Arcanum in check, the offense started to find a way to bring runners across the plate.

The first run came in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double by Sarah Westfall that scored Halley Roberts.

Covington then broke the game open in the bottom of the sixth, taking advantage of two Arcanum miscues in the field with timely hitting.

Hannah Pond led off the inning by reaching on a perfectly executed drag.

After stealing second, Pond went to third on a single by Carole Basye, who then jogged to second trying to draw a throw from Arcanum to allow Pond to score. The throw never came, but Shell helped out her own cause with a two-run single - driving the ball into the gap for a huge base hit.

Jesse Shilt came in to pinch run for Shell and she stole second to set up an RBI sacrifice by Heidi Snipes.

After Aubrye Cain reached on an error, Sarah Westfall singled to drive in Snipes for the 5-0 Covington lead.

"We hit the ball well," Denlinger said. "That (the sixth) was a big inning."

Big enough for Shell and the Covington defense as it only allowed one hit the rest of the way in preserving the shutout victory for the sectional title.

"You could tell the girls were focused (before the game)," said Denlinger. "We had a nice round of warm-ups. When we're focused and ready to play, our defense is the strength of our team."

The offense wasn't too shabby either as Covington racked up 10 hits in the contest.

Shell had the big day at the plate, going 3-for-3 with 2 RBI.

Halley Roberts and Sarah Westfall both had two hits with one of Westfall's hits going for a double. Westfall also drove in two runs in the contest.

Carole Basye, Hannah Pond and Heidi Snipes each had a hit, Bayse's going for an RBI single.

Also contributing on the base paths were Emily Hicks and Jesse Shilt, each recording stolen bases as courtesy runners. Shilt also scored a run.

The victory improves Covington to 22-5 on the season as it advances to play Felicity on Friday at Brookville High School for a district championship.

SCORING BY INNINGS:
Arcanum ........0...0...0...0...0...0...0 - 0 .. 2 .. 4
Covington ......0...0...0...0...1...4...x - 5 .. 10 .. 0