BOONVILLE, Ind. -- The Covenant Lady Scots softball team has brought home the NCCAA Mid-East region title after sweeping Oakland City University by scores of 4-3 and 10-4 on Wednesday. The title punches the automatic bid to the national tournament which will take place May 12-14 in Botetourt County, Virginia. Covenant won game one thanks to home runs from Beth Harris and Courtney Wagoner, then took game two after benefitting from a 7-run sixth.
Before play had even begun, the Lady Scots overcame extraordinary circumstances. When tornadoes swept through the south and caused Covenant's campus to close prematurely, the regional tournament was moved to OCU's campus in Oakland City, Indiana to better accommodate. But rain and flood warnings awaited the Lady Scots there, forcing games to be postponed several days. By Tuesday night, the decision was passed down that the teams would meet at Boonville High School in nearby Boonville, Indiana with hopes of playing the series Wednesday.
Once play finally began, the Lady Scots overcame additional extraordinary circumstances. Through the first six innings of game one, very little seemed to be clicking. The Lady Scots had two early chances to throw out OCU runners at the plate, both of which they missed by a split second. They had already left 8 runners stranded, 6 of which were left in scoring position. They faced a 3-0 deficit, and their ace Chelsea Krafft had thrown over 100 pitches and looked as though she was beginning to wear down.
In the top of the seventh, however, all of that changed. Rebekah Marbury and Christine Core led the inning off with back-to-back singles and set the stage for Harris, who smacked the first pitch she saw -a high fastball- over the center field fence. Her home run, which might have set a record for distance, tied the game at 3.
Two batters later, Wagoner teed off on an 0-1 change-up and drove it out just inside the left field foul pole to give the Lady Scots their first lead of the day. The level of excitement went through the roof as the Lady Scots had taken control of the game.
In the bottom half of the inning, Krafft was as effective as ever, needing only 6 pitches (all for strikes) to seal the victory.
Krafft's effectiveness even carried over to the second game, which began minutes later. There, she threw a no-hitter through the first four innings and saw her offense build her a 3-0 lead. In the fifth, a pair of back-to-back hits from OCU allowed the Mighty Oaks to cut into that lead. But Krafft added 2 more strikeouts to end the inning and pave way for another exciting half inning of Covenant softball.
In Covenant's sixth, the Lady Scots sent 12 batters to the plate, 7 of those 12 scored, as Covenant suppressed any hope of an OCU comeback. Oakland City added 2 more runs in their half of the sixth but never threatened to regain the lead.
"It took every single one of us," said head coach Sara Russell when asked about the effort of the team in getting the win. "I'm so proud of us for overcoming so many different obstacles: being evacuated from our school, having loved ones affected so close by, and then having to wait around for 3 days while it rained."
Patience and fortitude were truly evident as the Lady Scots claimed the first region title in the history of Covenant's young softball program.
Fittingly enough, Harris and Wagoner were the team leaders in hits; each went 5-for-8. The two combined for the games' only home runs as well as 3 runs and 8 RBIs. Marbury and Core both went 3-for-7 with a double.
But, obviously, hitting was not all it took. Countless stops from catcher Lindsey Potter behind home plate, diving plays such as Morgan Booker's in the sixth inning of game two, and Lauren Johns' flawless defense in her first start at third base were all instrumental in the victories.
On the rubber, Krafft picked up two more complete games. She threw 234 pitches for the day and struck out 14 while walking only 3.
The Lady Scots will travel to Botetourt County, Virginia next Thursday for the 2011 NCCAA Softball World Series. Further information will be released in the coming days.
