COVINGTON – The 42nd Covington Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony was a memorable evening as legendary softball coach Dean Denlinger was inducted as an honorary member and three teams he led to the state final four in 2011, 2012 and 2013 were inducted as teams.
2024-25 INDUCTEES
DEAN DENLINGER – HONORARY MEMBER
Dean Denlinger coached the Covington softball program for nine seasons from 2008 to 2016. Over his tenure, he compiled a career record of 214 wins and 43 losses with the highest winning percentage in the history of the program at 83.3%. He is second in Covington softball history with 214 career wins to Hall of Fame coach Dan Cain, who compiled 216 career wins at Covington.
In his nine seasons at Covington, Denlinger led the program to three league titles (2013, 2014, 2015), four district championships (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015) and went to the state final four three times as regional champions in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Denlinger is the only coach in any sport at Covington to win three regional championships. He is also second in the history of the program with four district titles, one behind the five district championship teams coached by Lynnette Roeth.
After his first season in 2008 with 17 wins, Denlinger led the program to over 20 wins in eight consecutive seasons from 2009 to 2016. His best record in a season came in 2013 when the Lady Buccs finished with a program record of 30 wins and just 1 loss, a winning percentage of 96.8%.
2011 SOFTBALL TEAM
The 2011 Covington Lady Buccs became the second team in the history of the softball program to reach the state final-four and compiled a 25-5 overall record throughout the entire season. The first team to reach the state final-four level was in 2002. Coached by head coach Dean Denlinger and assistant coaches Dan Cain and Ed Boggs, the Lady Buccs started off the season with 14 straight victories and finished the regular season with a 20-4 record.
Covington defeated National Trail 4-0 and Twin Valley South 5-4 to advance to the district championship game where they defeated DeGraff Riverside 2-1 at Brookville High School. The momentum carried through as Covington defeated Fort Loramie 4-0 in the regional semi-final and then overcame a 4-0 deficit against Felicity-Franklin to win the regional championship 8-4 at Tipp City High School.
REGULAR SEASON
Anna – W 8-0
St. Paris Graham – W 8-1
Sidney Lehman – W 10-2
Sidney Lehman – W 5-3
Ansonia – W 12-2
Bethel – W 5-0
Clermont Northeastern – W 3-1
Kettering Fairmont – W 2-1
Miami East – W 3-1
National Trail – W 2-0
Tri-County North – W 2-1
New Bremen – W 10-3
Minster – W 6-0
Arcanum – W 4-2
Versailles – L 1-3
Bradford – W 1-0
Franklin Monroe – W 10-0
Mississinawa Valley – W 24-0
Fairborn – L 1-4
Centerville – L 1-3
Twin Valley South – W 6-5
Newton – L 0-2
Tri-Village – W 14-4
Milton-Union – W 6-5
TOURNAMENT
National Trail – W 4-0
Twin Valley South – W 5-4
DeGraff Riverside – W 2-1
Fort Loramie – W 4-0
Felicity-Franklin – W 8-4
Strasburg-Franklin – L 0-2
2012 SOFTBALL TEAM
In 2012, the Lady Buccs recorded a 25-5 record and advanced to the state final-four for the second straight season and the third time in the history of the softball program. Coached by head coach Dean Denlinger and assistant coaches Dan Cain and Ed Boggs, Covington finished the regular season with a 20-4 record.
The Lady Buccs opened the post-season with an 8-6 win over Mechanicsburg and then followed up with three straight shutout victories to reach the regional final – 10-0 over Ansonia, 12-0 over Cedarville for a district championship and a 3-0 win over Triad in the regional semi-final. In the regional final, Covington defeated Minster 9-6 to advance to the state final-four. Overall, the Lady Buccs recorded 13 shutout victories throughout the season.
REGULAR SEASON
Anna – W 7-2
Fairborn – W 8-4
Centerville – W 10-1
Versailles – W 4-0
Ansonia – W 8-1
Bethel – W 11-5
Russia – W 8-1
Russia – W 11-0
Minster – W 3-0
Miami East – W 8-4
Piqua – W 16-5
New Bremen – W 10-0
Tri-County North – W 10-0
Twin Valley South – W 9-2
Arcanum – L 4-5
Milton-Union – L 10-11
Caledonia River Valley – W 2-1
National Trail – W 8-0
Bradford – L 3-4
Franklin Monroe – W 15-0
Mississinawa Valley – W 6-0
Newton – W 4-0
Tri-Village – W 2-0
Greenville – L 0-4
TOURNAMENT
Mechanicsburg – W 8-6
Ansonia – W 10-0
Cedarville – 12-0
Triad – 3-0
Minster – 9-6
Vienna Mathews – L 3-5
2013 SOFTBALL TEAM
The 2013 Covington Lady Buccs recorded the best season record in Covington history with 30 wins and just 1 defeat. Coached by head coach Dean Denlinger and assistant coaches Dan Cain and Ed Boggs, the Lady Buccs finished 25-0 in the regular season and won the Cross County Conference league championship. In the 31 games, Covington recorded 16 shutout victories.
Covington entered the state tournament ranked number one in the state and started off with a 15-0 win over Botkins. The Lady Buccs followed up with a 12-2 win over Russia and then won the district championship with a 17-0 win over Franklin Monroe. A 10-0 win over Marion Local advanced the Lady Buccs to the regional championship game where they won 4-2 against Triad to advance to the state final-four for the third straight season and the fourth time in the history of the program.
REGULAR SEASON
Versailles – W 9-0
Versailles – W 4-3
Anna – W 12-0
Coldwater – W 10-0
New Bremen – W 5-0
Centerville – W 8-1
Centerville – W 4-0
Minster – W 4-3
Tri-Village – W 4-1
Russia – W 12-1
Russia – W 11-0
Miami East – W 2-1
Tri-County North – W 11-0
Arcanum – W 6-4
Ansonia – W 9-0
Bradford – W 4-0
Mississinawa Valley – W 11-1
Franklin Monroe – W 10-0
Twin Valley South – W 10-0
Celina – W 5-2
Celina – W 3-2
Newton – W 11-1
National Trail – W 16-0
Troy – W 4-0
Bethel – W 12-1
TOURNAMENT
Botkins – W 15-0
Russia – W 12-2
Franklin Monroe – W 17-0
Marion Local – W 10-0
Triad – W 4-2
Strasburg-Franklin – L 0-3
