CASSTOWN – Thursday evening was special for Miami East as it honored its three seniors on Senior Night by capturing a thrilling 6-2 victory over rival Covington in an outcome that give the Lady Vikings an opportunity for a second straight league title in the TRC.
Last season Miami East shared the league title with Covington and a loss to the Lady Buccs would have ended all hope of at least earning share of the of the TRC championship. The 6-2 win puts Miami East in position to potentially winning the league outright – if they beat Riverside and Bethel and if Covington loses to Riverside.
On Thursday, Covington scored a run in the top of the first and had two runners in scoring position with one out. The Lady Vikings made two huge defensive plays to prevent further damage and set the tone for the remainder of the game.
The Lady Vikings plated four runs in the bottom of the second by taking advantage of two Covington errors with clutch hits. Another run was put on the board by Miami East in the bottom of the third as the Lady Vikings held on to a 5-1 lead through five innings thanks to some huge defensive plays by Rachael Haak at short, Abigail Kadel at second and Whitni Enis in right field, who chased down a fly ball that would have led to at least one and maybe two runs for Covington.
The biggest moment of the game for Miami East came in the top of the sixth as Covington loaded the bases and scored a run on a walk with one out. Jacqueline Kadel came up big by striking out the next batter and then forced a fly out to end the bases loaded threat and preserve a 5-2 lead.
Freshman Jaycee Roeth followed with a towering home run in the bottom of the sixth and then Miami East shut down the next three Covington batters in the top of the seventh to end the game.
Overall, Miami East outhit Covington seven to five and committed just one error defensively to two errors for the Buccs.
Jaycee Roeth and Abigail Kadel had two hits each, while the other hits came from Kylie Kirby, Jacqueline Kadel and Jadyn Bair.
Jacqueline Kadel went the distance in the circle and allowed just five hits to a powerful hitting Covington team. She struck out four batters and walked six.
Miami East improves its record to 12-6 overall and 10-2 in the TRC.
