COVINGTON – It has been an entire week since Covington last played a softball game and that was last Thursday in a stunning 12-1 defeat to Miami East in what led to the Lady Buccs having to share the league crown in the TRC.
Seven days is a long time for a team to have to wait to redeem itself, but Covington was able to do just that by shutting out Riverside 7-0 on Thursday in the second round of the sectional tournament.
The two teams had played twice before this season with Covington narrowly winning by a 3-2 score on April 19th and then dominating in a 12-2 outcome on May 3rd.
Sometimes it can be difficult to beat the same team three times in a season, but the Lady Buccs took little time to take control of the game early by scoring three runs in the first and another in the fourth for a 4-0 lead.
Meanwhile, junior hurler Meg Rogers kept the Riverside offensive lineup off balance, while the defense played flawlessly in the field – holding the Lady Pirates scoreless. In all, Covington didn’t commit a single error in the field, while Rogers allowed just four hits and struck out eight batters.
Covington virtually sealed the deal in the bottom of the fifth with three more runs with the big hit coming off the bat of Nigella Reck, who doubled and ultimately rounded the bases due to a defensive error by Riverside.
Reck finished the game with 2 doubles, a triple, 2 RBI and scored twice. Karyanne Turner had 3 hits with a double, 3 RBI and 2 runs cored, while Meg Rogers tripled, doubled and scored 3 runs.
Also contributing to the 11 hits for Covington were Erika Gostosmky, Reagan Lemp and Mara Newhouse.
Covington improves its record to 16-5 on the season and advances to play Fort Loramie next Tuesday in the sectional final.
