APRIL 28, 2011 - COVINGTON
To solve his team's struggles hitting the ball, Covington coach Dean Denlinger used Wednesday's practice to work on the finer points of hitting with each batter.

"We spent two hours on nothing but hitting," said Denlinger. "We worked on staying back and getting our hands through the zone."

The focus on hitting made a word of difference as the Lady Buccs broke loose with 14 hits in a 10-0 run rule victory over Franklin Monroe in five innings.

"It was nice to see us hit the ball the way we are capable of," Denlinger continued. "We did some nice things - slapping, dragging, bunting and hitting the ball hard. It wasn't ideal weather conditions, but we played pretty well."

With the wind blowing in directly from right-center, Covington still managed to get the big hit. Both Jesse Shilt and Heidi Snipes tripled in runs in the contest.

"We were extremely overdue," Denlinger said in regards to hitting the ball hard. "We've had four or five games where we had to rely on our pitching and defense. Tonight we were able to score runs."

And Covington's pitching and defense were in typical form ad Chloe Shell struck out seven of the 20 batters she faced in going the distance and the Lady Bucc "D" didn't commit any errors.

"We've put together a nice run of games where we haven't hurt ourselves with errors," said Denlinger. "Defensively, we are playing very well."

Covington scored in each of the six innings of play and held Franklin Monroe to just three hits in the contest.

Aubrye Cain led the way with a 3-for-4 afternoon, including two RBI, while Jesse Shilt and Chloe Shell went 2-for-3. Shilt also triple and drove in two runs.

Also recording hits for Covington were Casey Yingst, Connor Schaffer, Heidi Snipes, Brittanie Flora and Shainna Grilliot.

Improving to 16-1 overall and 8-0 in the CCC, Covington travels to Mississinawa Valley tomorrow evening.

SCORING BY INNINGS:
Franklin Monroe ...............0..0..0..0..0 - 0 - 3 - 1
Covington ..........................1..2..1..3..3 - 10 - 14 - 0