“Our goal this year was to get through districts, and the fact that we got all the way to the regional finals is huge,” she said. “We just want to keep playing our game. Now we got the taste in our mouth, we’re ready for next year. And we want to get back here and through. We want to get up to Akron.”
Covington (21-9) instead is going for the fifth time and the first time since 2013. The Buccaneers will play at Firestone Stadium at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday against first-time state participant Portsmouth Notre Dame. The final is Thursday at 8 p.m.
The Trojans’ attempt to reach state for the first time was an uphill endeavor. Covington jumped to a 5-1 lead after three innings on sophomore Emalyn Johnson’s two-run triple and three-run homer. The Buccs built the lead to 10-2 by the sixth inning on eight of their nine hits, five walks and six Southeastern errors.
“We didn’t play our cleanest game on defense, and we had trouble getting the engine started on offense,” Blair said.
The Trojans battled back with four runs in the sixth with the aid of some defensive mistakes by Covington. Gabby McNier, who had three hits, and Kami Horner began the inning with singles. Runs scored on a fielder’s choice, a single by Addi Vanover, another fielder’s choice and a sacrifice fly by Reese Wells.
But a two-out single was all the Trojans could muster in the seventh.
“I told them after the game I was proud of them for finally getting it going,” Blair said. “But I wish we got it started a little bit sooner because we put their defense on edge.”
At other times the Trojans lacked the big hit like the ones Johnson gave Covington.
“Even in our inning where we kind of jump started we didn’t have any huge hits, we just chipped away, we just kept moving runners, and made them make plays, and they struggled to do that,” Blair said. “We didn’t have the big hits, but we definitely kept moving runners on the way we have been all season.”
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