APRIL 13, 2010 - COVINGTON
Covington continued to roll on the softball field with a 6-2 victory over National Trail in Cross County Conference action Tuesday.

It's the fourth straight win for Covington as it has outscored its opponents 43-3 in the four victories.

"We're hitting the ball hard right now," said Covington coach Dean Denlinger. "Even tonight, we only had six hits, but a lot of times we hit the ball very hard right at people."

Covington used a four-run second inning to gain some momentum and then scored two more runs in the bottom of the fifth for a 6-0 lead.

Chloe Shell hurled five shutout innings before giving way to freshman Casey Yingst in the top of the sixth.

But Yingst's stay on the mound was short lived in the sixth inning as National Trail scored two quick runs, one coming on a home run that hit the top of right field fence and bounced over.

"On the home run Casey had good location on the pitch, down and away, but the (National Trail) girl got a good whack on the ball," Denlinger said. "That's something you can't do much about. This is a good learning experience for Casey."

Shell moved back to the mound from left field and finished what she started, shutting down the Trail hitters for the final six outs of the contest. One of those outs came on a nice catch by Yingst, who had moved back to shortstop.

"I'm very proud of how Casey handled it (a rough sixth inning)," Denlinger said. "She didn't cry or hang her head out there. She put it behind her and continued to play hard. That shows a lot of maturity for a freshman."

In all, Shell recorded all 21 outs in the contest, allowed four hits and struck out eleven batters.

"Chloe pitched well and we played good defense behind her," commented Denlinger as his team once again didn't have any errors in the field. "That (National Trail) is an improved team and they have some nice hitters over there."

So does Covington, including senior Carole Bayse and Shelby Hoblit. Bayse went 2-3 with a triple, while Hoblit doubled in the contest.

Yingst and Aubrye Cain each drove in two runs on singles, while Heidi Snipes had an RBI single.

Hannah Pond recorded three steals for Covington.

Covington improves to 11-2 overall and 2-1 in Cross County Conference play.

The Lady Buccs enjoy a night off before hosting Tri-County North on Thursday.

SCORING BY INNINGS:
National Trail ..........0...0...0...0...0...2...0 - 2 .. 7 .. 1
Covington ................0...4...0...2...0...0...x - 6 .. 6 .. 0