APRIL 18, 2011 - COVINGTON
In a game originally scheduled to be played at New Bremen, the Covington Lady Buccs hosted the Cardinals and came away with an impressive 10-3 non-conference victory.

And it was familiar faces in new places for the Lady Buccs as Chloe Shell was given a much deserved break from the mound, which resulted in an entirely different lineup in the infield.

"We had a completely different defensive lineup and we didn't play too bad either," said a pleased Covington coach Dean Denlinger. "We had a couple of mistakes, but overall we played pretty good defensively."

Sophomore Cassie Yingst received the start on the rubber for Covington and threw very well in her five innings of action. Yingst struck out nine batters and walked three, while only giving up the one earned run in the first inning. The only other run given up while Yingst was on the mound came via an error.

"Casey did a fine job in her first start of the year," praised Denlinger. "She had pretty nice command of her pitches."

Covington jumped on New Bremen early with all 10 of its runs in the first three innings.

Connor Schaffer started things off with a three-run home run in the first inning and Chloe Shell recorded a bases loaded double in the second inning for three more runs. It was Shell's only at bat in the contest as she saw action as a pinch hitter.

"We're hitting the ball well right now," Denlinger said. "We didn't strike out once for the second straight game. We're putting the ball in play."

Covington pounded out nine hits on the evening with seven players recording at least one hit.

"Everyone in the lineup is contributing," Denlinger continued. "We're making nice adjustments at the plate, knowing when to shorten our swing later in the count."

Mixing things up with small ball and launching the towering shots is what has made Covington a dangerous offensive team. It was on display Friday at Tri-County North and again tonight.

"We did a nice job of slapping, dragging and bunting," said Denlinger. "We also had some girls who did a nice job of hitting the ball deep so we could tag up and score runs. That's playing team softball."

One of those players who had a big impact was freshman Halley Adams, who saw her first action from injury.

Adams went 1-for-2 at the plate and played a nice defensive game in right field.

"It's good to have Halley in the lineup," Denlinger said. "She's worked hard to get back and she still getting into the flow of things. It's tough for a freshman who has never played a varsity game before, but she played well."

With the big lead late in the game, Denlinger elected to try some new wrinkles at the offensive end in the final three at bats.

"Normally we would play some small ball to try and manufacture some runs, but I wanted to see how some of our younger girls would do swinging away," Denlinger explained. "They did a nice job, but unfortunately for us New Bremen made some nice plays in the outfield."

Denlinger also changed things up at the defensive end, replacing Yingst with Aubrye Cain on the mound and switching the defensive lineup once again.

And Cain was as potent at Yingst, closing out the final two innings for the save.

Yingst helped her cause at the plate with a two-run single, while Cain also drove in a run.

Jessie Shilt also has had a hit, while Hannah Pond went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases.

The victory improves Covington's record to 12-0 as the Lady Buccs host Twin Valley South tomorrow night in a huge CCC showdown.

SCORING BY INNINGS:
New Bremen ............1..0..0..1..0..0..1 - 3 - 6 - 4
Covington .................3..5..2..0..0..0..x - 10 - 9 - 2