APRIL 23, 2010 - PITSBURG
Covington traveled to Pitsburg Friday night for a Cross County Conference contest against Franklin Monroe and came away with an impressive 17-3 victory in five innings.

"We jumped on them early," said Covington coach Dean Denlinger. "They've got some talent on that team. The second pitcher they brought in threw pretty hard, but we just hit the ball well tonight."

Covington scored seven runs in each of the first two innings for a 14-2 lead.

And the most damage came from the bats of senior Shelby Hoblit and freshman Connor Schaffer, who both drilled two-run home runs.

"Both of those would have been out anywhere," Denlinger said. "We hit the ball hard."

While Covington was hitting the ball all over the lot, junior hurler Chloe Shell was in complete command on the mound. Shell went the distance, striking out seven and not giving up a single walk.

"Chloe was in control," said Denlinger. "We played pretty good defense behind her throughout the game and at one time we had seven freshman on the field."

Several players had big games at the plate with Schaffer and Hoblit both going 2-3 with two-run home runs. Casey Yingst drove in three runs, while Aubrye Cain drove in a pair of runs as well.

Also driving in runs were Sarah Westfall, Carole Bayse and Halley Roberts, while Samantha Slusher, Brittanie Flora and Hannah Pond all recorded hits.

Chloe Shell helped herself out at the plate as well, recording five RBI on a 2-3 night.

In all the Lady Buccs pounded out 18 hits in the contest as they improve to 14-3 overall and 5-2 in the CCC.

"It was a good night for us," Denlinger closed. "We got all 17 players into the game and we managed to get the game in before the weather turned bad."

Covington has the weekend off before hosting Mississinawa Valley on Tuesday.

SCORING BY INNINGS:
Covington ......................7...7...1...2...0 - 17 .. 18 .. 1
Franklin Monroe ...........2...0...0...1...0 - 3 .. 4 .. 2