COVINGTON – The Covington Lady Buccs defeated Fort Loramie 6-2 in the second round of the state tournament, which was the final game of the season on the home field.
This made a special memory for senior Elizabeth Coblentz due to it being her last game in a field she compiled a great career on. Coblentz also made a great play as she threw out a runner at second and had two big hits, a double and a home run in the fourth inning. She now has 11 home runs on the season and set the school record with 19 doubles in a season.
Covington started the game in the top of the first inning with a great catch in right field by Cassidy Iddings. It wasn’t the only catch she made as she had two more big catches throughout the game.
The Lady Buccs then scored two runs in the bottom of the second, first by Kylie Palsgrove and then by Taylor Foutz.
Fort Loramie then put itself in scoring position in the top of the third with one out, but Covington made a huge play as Emma Ouellette scooped up a hard hit ground ball and tagged out a runner heading to second. She then threw the ball to Taylor Foutz at first for a double play.
The Lady Buccs pushed their lead to 4-0 with two more runs in the bottom of the fourth and had a golden opportunity to extend the lead as the bases were loaded with one out. Unfortunately, Fort Loramie recorded a double play to limit more damage.
The Lady Redskins then loaded the bases with just one out in the top of the fifth and scored a run on a walk. Fortunately for Covington, Elizabeth Coblentz hauled in a popup for the second out and then Whitney Burns struck out the next batter.
This ignited more energy for the Lady Buccs in the bottom half of the fifth inning as Elizabeth Coblentz and Emalyn Johnson both connected on solo home runs to push the lead to 6-1. Taylor Foutz doubled with one out, but Fort Loramie was able to put together another double play to limit more damage.
Fort Loramie was able to score one more run in the top of the sixth, but a smart defensive play by Jayda McClure had a huge impact on putting the Lady Redskins in trouble. Overall, the defensive performance by the Lady Buccs eliminated any more opportunities for Fort Loramie to make a comeback.
A huge amount of credit to Covington’s success was the performance in the circle by pitcher, Whitney Burns. She allowed just six hits to a very good team and struck out seven batters. Plus, the defense behind her made some amazing plays throughout the entire game.
Covington racked up 10 hits with Taylor Foutz leading the team by going 3-for-3 at the plate with two doubles. Elizabeth Coblentz went 2-for-3 with a home run and a double, while Kylie Palsgrove went 2-for-3 with a double.
Emalyn Johnson hit a home run, while Ava Hartwig connected on a double and drove in two runs. Another hit was connected by Emma Ouellette.
Covington is now 18-9 and increased its school record on home runs as a team to 44.
Next the Lady Buccs play Felicity-Frankin on Thursday at Bellbrook. The game is scheduled for 5:00pm.
