APRIL 21, 2011 - COVINGTON
Covington beat Arcanum 4-2 on Thursday to improve to 14-0 overall and 6-0 in the CCC, but you can sense the Lady Buccs know there is a lot of work left to be done.

"When we put it all together we're capable of anything," said Covington coach Dean Denlinger. "But we still haven't put it all together yet."

Denlinger sees plenty of room for improvement at the plate.

"This is the second straight game we haven't hit the ball very well," Denlinger continued. "Give credit to their pitcher for mixing it up pretty good, but we're not hitting the ball well at all."

What Covington has done is pitch well, play solid defense and win.

"Winning is contagious and we find a way to keep winning," said Denlinger. "Our pitching and defense has been carrying us this year. We've had to manufacture some runs, but there are going to be times when its hard to do that when you play teams who are able to take that away. We have to start hitting the ball."

Covington did hit the ball early as Chloe Shell connected on a two-run single in the second inning and Jessie Shilt followed with an RBI sacrifice to give the Lady Buccs a 3-0 lead.

Shilt connected again in the third inning for an RBI single to increase the lead to 4-0 in favor of Covington.

But that was all the damage Covington could do over the remainder of the contest as the bats went cold.

Meanwhile, Arcanum managed to put a run on the board in the top of the fourth and had runners at second and third with one out. But Chloe Shell struck out the next two batters to end the threat.

The final run Arcanum put on the scoreboard came in the top of the seventh, but it wasn't enough as Covington held on for the win.

Shell went the distance on the mound. She struck out nine batters and didn't surrender any walks.

"They (Arcanum) were 4-0 in the league coming into tonight, so this was a big win for us," said Denlinger. "But we have to take it one game at a time. Next week is a huge week for us."

Covington travels to Versailles on Saturday for a double-header before facing four conference opponents in four consecutive days next week.

The Lady Buccs have Bradford Tuesday, a makeup game with Twin Valley South on Wednesday, Franklin Monroe Thursday and Mississinawa Valley on Friday.

"That's a tough week," said Denlinger. "It all starts Saturday at Versailles."

SCORING BY INNINGS:
Arcanum .............0..0..0..1..0..0..1 - 2 - 6 - 0
Covington ...........0..3..1..0..0..0..x - 4 - 6 - 0