By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

COVINGTON — Versailles softball put up a fight against a 16-3 Covington squad, but fell 14-5 on the road.

Versailles got the lead early, but couldn’t keep momentum for long in the game. Head coach Mark Voisard said the team has to figure out how to keep momentum when they jump on opponents early in the game.

“Covington is a good hitting team. I just got done talking to the girls and said, ‘Hey, they hit gaps when we got the momentum back.’ In the fifth inning when we had it down two runs, we just let them get hits here and there and let them put the runs back up on the board that we worked hard to get to,” Voisard said.

In the top of the first inning, Jenna Dirksen hit a two-run shot to put the Lady Tigers up 2-0. Then in the bottom of the second inning, Covington showed off their power. Senior Meg Rogers led off with a double and then senior Nigella Reck drove her in with a RBI double. Later in the inning, the Lady Buccs drove in two more runs to go up 4-2.

Covington then scored two more runs in the second and one more in the third to go up 7-2. In the top of the fourth inning, Versailles got the bases loaded with one out. Colleen Hiestand drove in a run to make it a 7-3 game.

While the Lady Tigers didn’t score more runs, they started to gain some momentum. In the bottom of the fourth, Cassie Leach made a nice catch on a pop fly moving away from her. She then flipped it to second base to get the inning-ending double play.

Then in the fifth, Alayna Henry had a two-run double with two outs to make it a 7-5 game. But then, Covington came back with a vengeance.

The team scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Freshman Whitney Burns had a RBI double. Rogers drove in another run and senior Mara Newhouse had a two-run double.

Versailles was close to making a few defensive plays to stop the Covington offense, but just couldn’t get to the ball in time. The Lady Buccs added three more runs in the sixth to extend their lead.

Dirksen and Henry finished the game with two RBI each. Rogers had four hits and two RBI while Reck had three hits and three RBI for Covington.

Voisard said the team did alright this game, but they are still working hard towards that goal of getting and keeping momentum from the start of games.

Versailles is now 9-10 with a 2-2 conference record. Tournament draw is coming up this weekend on April 30 and Voisard said he expects the team to be in the middle of the pack in terms of seeding.

He also said he believes his group can make a run in the tournament if they put their mind to it.

“This group has the capability of making a long tournament run. It’s just a matter if they want it or not,” Voisard said.

Versailles will host Coldwater on April 25 at 5 p.m. and then go to Tri-County North on April 28 for a 5 p.m. first pitch.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]