CLAYTON – The Covington Lady Buccs defeated Southeastern 10-6 to win the regional championship and became the fifth team in program history to advance to the state final four.
The four previous teams to advance to the state final four were in 2002, 2011, 2012 and 2013, all who are in the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
The Lady Buccs started off the game in fashion by scoring two runs in the top of the first inning and then took a 5-1 lead with three more runs in the top of the third with the biggest hit coming from Emalyn Johnson, who connected on her 11th home run of the season. This was also the 48th home run on the season for the team.
Covington then scored three more runs in the top of the fourth to take an 8-1 lead, but Southeastern never relented as that team scored a run in the bottom of the inning.
The Lady Buccs pushed their lead to 10-2 with a run in the top of the fifth and another run in the top of the sixth to put themselves in a great position to seal the victory.
Unfortunately, the Lady Buccs committed three errors in the bottom of the sixth inning and Southeastern was able to take advantage of the miscues by scoring four runs to put themselves back into contention with the score at 10-6.
Fortunately, the Lady Buccs were able to secure the win due to great defensive plays in the bottom of the seventh, the highlight being a diving catch in center field by Emalyn Johnson.
Emalyn Johnson had a huge performance as she went 2-for-3 with a home run and a triple that drove in five runs. Ava Hartwig and Taylor Foutz also connected on triples, while the other hits were connected by Jayda McClure, Elizabeth Coblentz, Whitney Burns and Kylie Palsgrove.
Whitney Burns picked up her 18th win of the season as she went the distance in the circle. She allowed just two walks and struck out three batters. The key for her was her outstanding pitching locations that forced Southeastern to put balls into position for the Lady Buccs to make defensive plays throughout the game.
This was a memorable afternoon for the Lady Buccs and the huge number of fans who were on hand. What made it even more special was the attendance of the Buccaneers’ baseball team, who were present to root for their classmates in the softball program.
The Lady Buccs are now 21-9 and advance to the state semi-final against Portsmouth Notre Dame on Wednesday, June 4th at Firestone Stadium in Akron. The game is scheduled to start at 5:30pm.
