COVINGTON – One play here or there was the difference between winning and losing for Milton-Union on Thursday at Covington High School.
Unfortunately, the Lady Bulldogs came up just short of handing Covington its first league loss as the Lady Buccs escaped with a 10-9 victory.
Statistically, Milton-Union outhit Covington 13 to 8 and both teams made critical mistakes in the field – combining for seven total errors. But Covington was able to take advantage of one more opportunity than Milton-Union, which led to the final outcome.
Milton-Union had runners at second and third with one out in the top of the first, but couldn’t cash in as Covington made a huge defensive play to end the threat.
The Lady Buccs followed with 2 runs in the bottom of the first, but Milton-Union broke open with 6 runs in the second.
After holding Covington scoreless in the second, once again the Lady Bulldogs had runners in scoring position with one out in the top of the third, but the Lady Buccs turned a double play to get out of the inning without damage.
Covington then used the momentum at the plate in the bottom of the third by scoring 4 runs to tie the game at 6-6 lead before Milton-Union responded with 2 runs in the forth to go back on top 8-6.
Things settled in for Covington, who was celebrating senior night for seniors Kierra Hinnegan and Parker Metz, as the Lady Buccs scored four straight runs over the next three at bats to take an 10-8 heading into the top of the seventh.
And Milton-Union threatened to take the lead in its final at bat, but could only manage to bring one run across the late before Covington got out of the inning to preserve the win.
For Milton-Union, Carly Zimmer and Madison Jones spilt time in the circle as well for the Lady Bulldogs as they combined t strike out 8 batters. Jenna Booher and Rhi Emmons had 3 hits a piece, while Taylor Falb at 2. Regan Robinson, Maddie Baker, Carly Zimmer, Raegan Fulton and Jones all had one hit.
For Covington, Meg Rogers and Nigella Reck combined to strike out 8 in the contest. Reck led Covington with 3 hits and Rogers had 2 hits, while Kamryn Barnes, Mara Newhouse and Erika Gostomsky had one hit a piece.
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