MAY 6, 2010 - COVINGTON
It was "Senior Night" at Covington High School for the Lady Buccs and they had a lot at stake against Lehman.

First and foremost, the Lady Buccs wanted to honor the six seniors with a victory in the final regular season home game. Halley Roberts, Shelby Hoblit, Sarah Westfall, Carole Bayse, Emily Hicks and Kristin Swabb have been the backbone of the team all season long.

Second, Covington still had the bitter taste of defeat left over from a stunning 5-4 loss to Ansonia on Tuesday. A victory would get the Lady Buccs back on track heading into Tuesday's season finale at Troy.

Lastly, the Lady Buccs wanted to take care of business in the absence of head coach Dean Denlinger, who made a trip to the hospital with his wife as the two are expecting the birth of a child.

And Covington accomplished everything it set out to do, recording a 5-0, no-hit shutout of the visiting Cavaliers.

"A no-hit shutout was big on Senior Night," said assistant coach Craig Maschino, who held down the fort along with Ed Boggs. "It was a great team effort across the board. Fifteen players contributed to the win tonight."

Chloe Shell contributed in a big way on the mound. The junior was dominant, allowing just three base runners on two walks and an error in recording the no hitter. She struck out 13 batters in the contest.

"Chloe threw really well," Maschino said. "Other than the error, they (Lehman) only hit one ball out of the infield and that was caught in right field by (Shelby) Hoblit."

Covington jumped on top early with three runs in the first inning, but left the bases loaded and had a difficult time making contact at the plate over the remainder of the contest. The Lady Buccs managed just eight base hits on the night.

With the last few contests being against the high velocity pitching Greenville, Newton, Twin Valley South and Ansonia brought to the mound, the Lady Buccs had a hard time timing the pitches they saw Tuesday.

"Definitely," Maschino agreed. "We were way out on our front foot all night, way ahead of the ball."

Still, Covington was able to increase its lead to 5-0 with a two-run triple by Casey Yingst in the bottom of the fourth inning.

It was enough for Shell and the Lady Bucc defense as they made it stand over the final three innings for the shutout win.

Seven Covington hitters reached on base hits with Aubrye Cain leading the way with a 2-for-3 effort, two runs and two stolen bases.

Casey Yingst connected for the two-run triple, while Sarah Westfall recorded and RBI double and scored a run. Carole Basye also doubled and scored a run.

Chloe Shell helped out her own cause with an RBI single, while Shelby Hoblit and Emily Hicks also singled in the contest.

The victory improves Covington to 20-4 on the season, the second straight 20-win season for the Lady Buccs.

Covington travels to Troy on Tuesday to close out the regular season.

SCORING BY INNINGS:
Lehman .............0...0...0...0...0...0...0 - 0 - 0 - 1
Covington ..........3...0...0...2...0...0...x - 5 - 8 - 1