MAY 3, 2011 - COVINGTON
Not many softball games draw the type of attention the Covington - Newton game drew Tuesday evening.

"I've been waiting for this game since the schedule came out," said Troy Daily New reporter Josh Brown. "This is the one I wanted to see."

PressProsMagazine.com featured the game on their website, broadcasting the contest live on the internet.

To top it off, fans surrounded the fence two and three deep because they couldn't get a seat in the bleachers behind the backstop.

"That crowd was bigger than a tournament crowd," said Covington coach Dean Denlinger. "What a great turnout for softball."

And the two teams didn't disappoint in what was a showcase of quality high school softball.

As proof of the level of softball the two teams played, each team struck out only once against two of the better pitchers in the state of Ohio - Newton's Kirsten Burden and Covington's Chloe Shell.

"That just shows how good both teams are," said Denlinger. "We threw our best stuff at each other and both teams hit the ball hard."

But it was Newton who managed to hit the gaps - hits that resulted in the only two runs of the game.

The first run came after a Covington error as Brooke Knepper singled up the middle to score Taylor Steck to give Newton a 1-0 lead after one.

"I got a little greedy at times, going from two runs instead of just playing for one. But a lot of that was knowing who we were playing against," said Newton coach Kirk Kade. "Against (a team that hits like) Covington, you can't ever get enough runs."

Covington had its chances to put a run on the board in the bottom half of the first as Aubrye Cain reached on an error and Connor Schaeffer connected on a base hit.

But an amazing catch by center fielder Andy Welbaum robbed the Lady Buccs of another base hit and scoring opportunity for the third out of the inning.

And it was Welbaum who was huge for Newton throughout the contest, stealing four potential base hits from Covington hitters.

"They made some plays in the field," Denlinger said. "We hit the ball well, but they always seemed to come up with the big play."

Welbaum wasn't the only one stealing potential base hits from Covington as the play of the game was made by Marina Snipes. The Newton second baseman chased down a fly ball on the right field line to make a diving catch between the first baseman and right fielder who were in pursuit.

"The girls really believe they can make those plays," Kadel explained. "When Marina (Snipes) took off after that ball, she knew she had it. And if you think that way, you're going to make those plays."

Newton's final run came in the second inning as Kirsten Burden led off with a single and Fawn King sacrificed her to second. Kasey Thompson then connected on a double in the gap to score Burden.

The hitting continued throughout the remainder of the contest, but neither team could score runs.

Newton had the lead-off runner reach for three straight innings in the fourth, fifth and sixth, but Covington's defense made the plays needed to end the threats - twice recording double plays and once picking off a runner trying to score at the plate.

"We made some defensive plays too,"said Denlinger. "We had two double plays and they had one. It was a great great defensive game."

Trying to get back into the game in the bottom of the seventh, Covington connected three times at the plate. But each time the Indians made the plays in the field to record the outs and end the contest with a 2-0 win.

"This was a great high school softball game between two good teams," Denlinger said. "I'm pleased with the girls because we played hard and with a lot of passion. We gave a lot of effort and so did they."

Burden picked up the win for the Indians, while Shell was tagged with the loss in a gallant effort.

"She was doing well," Kadel said of Burden's performance. "We talked to her about her focus — she hasn't been as focused as she was last season. Today, she had it back."

Newton improves to 15-3 overall and remains unbeaten in the CCC, while Covington drops to 18-4 overall and 10-1 in the league.

And to show the respect the two coaches have for each other, they enjoyed dinner together at Buffalo Wild Wings after the game.

SCORING BY INNINGS:
Newton ................1..1..0..0..0..0..0 - 2-7-2
Covington ............0..0..0..0..0..0..0 - 0-4-2