APRIL 2, 2011 - SIDNEY
It was a long, cold day for softball at Lehman High School on Saturday, but the Covington Lady Buccs overcame the elements to sweep a double-header from the host Cavaliers.

"To play in this weather, it's pretty difficult," said Covington coach Dean Denlinger. "It was cold and windy, but the girls stayed fairly focused and played well under the circumstances."

Covington cruised in the first game to a 10-2 victory as Chloe Shell and Aubrye Cain combined for the two-hitter. Shell allowed just one hit in five innings of work, while Cain threw the final two innings to pick up the save.

The second game of the double-header was much closer as Covington held on for the 5-3 win.

Covington built a 4-1 lead with two runs in the second and two more runs in the sixth, but couldn't put the game away as it left the bases loading in two innings.

Lehman battled back with two runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut the margin to 4-3 before Covington closed the afternoon with a run in the top half of the seventh and then shutting down Lehman in the bottom half of the inning.

Shell went the distance on the mound for Covington, recording seven strikeouts and allowing just one walk.

"We left eleven runners stranded in the second game," Denlinger said. "That's something we'll definitely look at."

Still, Covington had a big day at the plate, connecting on a total of 29 hits in the two games.

"We did a lot of nice things, though," continued Denlinger. "There was some slapping, dragging, hitting the gaps, running the bases - as cold as it was, we played pretty well. We also had seven sacrifices today. That's nice team ball."

Several girls enjoyed big days at the plate. Brittanie Flora went 5-for-8 with two RBI and Chloe Shell connected on two doubles and two RBI on a 4-for-7 day.

Aubrye Cain recorded six hits on the afternoon in nine at bats, with a double and two RBI and Casey Yingst went 5-for-9 with a double and two RBI.

Also having big days were Hannah Pond (3-for-7, a double and an RBI), Connor Schaffer (2-for-6 and 2 RBI), and Shainna Grilliot (2-for-6 with an RBI).

Covington improves to 4-0 on the season and travels to Versailles on Monday.

GAME ONE - SCORING:
Covington ..........4..0..0..5..0..1..0 - 10 - 16 - 1
Lehman ..............0..0..1..0..1..0..0 - 2 - 2 - 0

GAME TWO - SCORING:
Covington ...........0..2..0..0..0..2..1 - 5 - 13 - 1
Lehman ...............0..0..0..0..1..2..0 - 3 - 6 - 0