COVINGTON – With the horrible spring weather forcing the cancellation of several regular season games, so Covington is taking advantage of every opportunity to schedule competitive games in order to stay sharp for the tournament.
And Saturday provided ideal weather for the Lady Buccs to challenge themselves against a talented Versailles team in a non-conference contest where the game ultimately went down to the wire.
Versailles built a 2-1 lead after one, but Covington’s Nigella Reck gave the Lady Buccs a big boost with a three-run home run in the bottom of the third.
Covington was then one hit from breaking the game open in the bottom of the fourth as it loaded the bases with one out with the meat of the lineup coming to the plate. Unfortunately for the Lady Buccs, two hard hit balls landed directly into the gloves of Versailles.
The momentum turned in the top of the fifth as Versailles scored two runs – both coming with two outs.
The Lady Tigers then scored three runs in the top of the sixth – again, all coming with two outs – to take a 7-4 lead over Covington.
But the Lady Buccs had hit the ball hard all day and the hits started finding open gaps in the bottom of the sixth resulting into three runs for Covington to tie the score at 7-7 heading into the final inning.
Covington recorded two quick outs, but the third batter for Versailles singled and then reached second on a passed ball to put the go-ahead run in scoring position.
This time, however, Covington was able to get the third out as Karyanne Turner chased down a hard hit ball into shallow center field.
Covington came to the plate in the bottom half of the inning and Erika Gostomsky reached on a single to lead things off. She advanced to third on back-to-back sacrifices and then scored on a passed ball to give Covington a thrilling 8-7 win.
Covington wrapped 12 hits in the contest with four hits going for extra bases as Nigella Reck homered and doubles were hit by Kamryn Barnes, Mara Newhouse and Meg Rogers. Reck also drove in five runs.
Rogers went the distance on the rubber for Covington as she struck out 8 and walked 2. She also helped out her cause at the plate with a team-leading three hits.
Covington improves to 17-6 on the season and will host Franklin Monroe on Monday in another non-conference game before playing Fort Loramie on Tuesday in the sectional final at Newton High School.
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