ANNA – The Covington Lady Buccs put forth outstanding effort and intensity throughout a very tough game that ended up with a 6-5 victory over Russia in the district final on Thursday.
Things started out very well for Covington throughout the first four innings as the Lady Buccs built a 4-0 lead. Emailyn Johnson opened up the game with a solo home run in the first inning and then Kylie Palsgrove followed up with a three-run homer in the second inning.
The Lady Buccs then pushed their lead to 5-0 in the top of the fifth inning when Emma Ouellette drilled a powerful base hit that scored Taylor Foutz from second base.
Russia, which is a very talented and aggressive team, put itself back into contention by scoring three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. The biggest hit in that inning was a home run.
Covington responded in the top of the sixth inning with a second home run in the game by the junior standout, Emalyn Johnson. She now has 19 home runs this season and 34 in her amazing career. This also pushed Covington’s team record in home runs at 58 in this season.
The Lady Buccs held Russia in check in the bottom of the sixth due to an amazing diving catch by freshman center fielder Karlee Schwartz that prevented a Russia runner from heading to the home plate for a score.
Covington then failed to push its lead to more points in the top of the seventh inning due to a mistake in the base running. Plus, Russia made some great defensive plays that eliminated outstanding contacts by Covington hitters.
Russia made an impressive attempt to make a comeback victory in the bottom of the seventh inning as a key batter drilled a two-run home run after the batter before her drew a walk. Fortunately, Ava Hartwig and Jayda McClure made two outstanding defensive plays for the Lady Buccs to end the game and secure the 13th district championship in the history of the program.
Overall, both teams played outstanding defensively by making so many great catches in the field. This portion of the game is what was so impressive in the sport of softball.
The Lady Buccs are now 24-6 in this season and will compete in the regional semi-final on Wednesday, May 27th at Wapakoneta. The game is scheduled for 5:00pm.
