COVINGTON – The Covington Lady Buccs put together a dominating performance against Tri-County North on Tuesday in a 14-0 victory in five innings to advance to the district final that will be played at 5:00 PM on Friday against either Williamsburg or Fairfield Cincinnati Christian at Kings High School.
Defensively, Covington put together one of its better performances of the season against a solid Triple-County North team by not committing a single error and making big plays in the field to limit the Panthers to just one hit in the contest.
Senor hurler Meg Rogers was on her game as she kept the Panthers off balance all evening. Rogers struck out six batters and didn’t give up any walks in a one-hitter.
The lone hit by Tri-County North came in the top of the fourth and the Panthers advanced the runner to third base with two bunts where Covington threw out the batters at first. A huge defensive play was made by Meg Rogers as she threw out the Panther runner at home as she tried to steal when catcher Mara Newhouse tossed the ball back to the circle after a pitch. Both Rogers and Newhouse were focused and ready for the attempt by Tri-County North to manufacture a run by making a great play at the plate.
Offensively, Covington took advantage of Tri-County North intentionally walking Nigella Reck all four times she stepped to the plate. Infuriated, Maggie Anderson, Mara Newhouse and Karyanne Turner combined for six hits, six RBI and seven runs. Reck scored twice thanks to the performance of her teammates who batted behind her.
The Lady Buccs started the game red hot at the plate by scoring six runs in the first, three in the second and five in the third to build a 14-0 lead. Covington had a golden opportunity to put more runs on the scoreboard in the bottom fo the fourth as it loaded the bases. Tri-County North, which played well defensively, was able to get out of the inning without further damage.
The final score wasn’t a reflection of the quality of the team the Panthers put on the field. Tri-County North played well and implemented every strategy possible to keep Covington in check – primarily rotating three pitchers in and out of the circle throughout the contest in an attempt to keep the Lady Buccs off balance.
Fortunately for the Lady Buccs, they were able to make adjustments on the fly and execute to near perfection in all phases of the game.
Overall, Covington tallied 10 hits and drew 12 walks thanks to its discipline at the plate.
Karyanne Turner led Covington with three hits, three RBI and scored three times. Freshman Taylor Foutz drove in four runs on two hits and scored once, while Mara Newhouse had two hits, one RBI and scored once. Maggie Anderson drove in two runs on a hit, while Reaghan Lemp and Erika Gostomsky both had hits that drove in runs as well.
Covington improves its record to 26-4 on the season.
