MAY 13, 2010 - COVINGTON
All season long it has been the senior leadership that has sparked the Covington Lady Buccs to some big victories in a 20-5 regular season.

And fittingly, the seniors stepped up big once again in their final game on the Covington softball field in a 5-1 victory over rival Bradford in sectional tournament play.

"It was an emotional night for our seniors," said Covington assistant coach Craig Maschino, who teamed with Ed Boggs in place of head coach Dean Denlinger. "To get a tournament win against our biggest rival in their last game on this field is special."

And the Covington players had extra motivation as their coach was unable to attend as he became the father of a 6-pound, 9-once baby boy - (we'll call him Little Bucc).

"Coach Denlinger and his family was on everyone's mind," Maschino said. "We're excited to get this one under our belt so he can get back with us on Tuesday."

Where Covington will play in the sectional final at Bethel High School against the winner of the lower half of the bracket.

Covington scored a run in the bottom of the first inning, but left the bases loaded with a golden opportunity to break the game open early.

"Our small game wasn't there," Maschino said. "We had three bunt-and-runs signaled in the first inning and we didn't get any of them down. If we would have gotten one or two of those down we could have had three or four runs in the inning."

In all, Covington left nine runners stranded in the contest.

"We were a hit or two from breaking the came open," continued Maschino. "We also had a lead-off runner get called out for leaving the base early and then we had a runner thrown out at third. Those were big plays that cost us."

Fortunately for Covington, Chloe Shell was stellar on the mound as she shut down the Bradford lineup throughout much of the contest. Shell only allowed one hit and hit one batter.

"Chloe pitched a great game," praised Maschino. "She had them (Bradford) guessing all night."

Bradford received a stellar pitching effort from Marissa Wirrig as well. The senior settled down after a rough first inning to hold Covington scoreless over the second and third innings.

But two Bradford errors in the bottom of the fourth resulted in two Covington runs and Shelby Hoblit led off the fourth inning with a solo home run to push the Lady Bucc lead to 4-0.

"That was a big hit by Hobs (Hoblit)," Maschino said. "What a way for her to go out in her last game on this field."

The errors by Bradford were the spark Covington needed to get rolling, however.

"They made couple of mistakes we were able to take advantage of," Maschino said. "In a tight game like this, that's what good teams are suppose to do."

Bradford responded with a run in the top of the sixth, but Covington put the game away in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI double by Aubrye Cain.

Cain had a huge night at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double, and RBI and scoring two runs.

"We hit the ball hard at times," said Maschino. "Halley (Roberts) and Connor (Schaffer) had a couple of hits that the wind held up or they may have went out. We just need to do a better job of executing small ball."

Which Covington will look to improve upon as they prepare for the sectional final.

SCORING BY INNINGS:
Bradford .................0...0...0...0...0...1...0 - 1 - 1 - 2
Covington ..............1...0...0...2...1...1...x - 5 - 9 - 1