Perfect game halts Lady Trojan losing skid

Standing on deck to bat in the second inning, New Kent pitcher Becca Mills got some advice from first base coach Ken Otey. If she hits the ball in the air, Otey told her, make sure it goes over the fence.

“Don’t jinx me,” a slightly perturbed Mills shot back.

He didn’t.

Mills drove a pitch from Warhill hurler Amanda Bordon high in the air, clearing the left field fence for a two-run homer. The blast ignited a 10-run frame that vaulted the host Lady Trojans to a 20-0 shutout over the Lions.

On the mound, meanwhile, Mills and reliever Ashley McMichael combined for a five-inning perfect game. No Lion reached base as Mills struck out eight in three innings of work and McMichael pitched the final two frames, fanning three.

The April 2 contest reversed a two-game losing skid for the Lady Trojans who improved to 4-2 in Bay Rivers District softball play. The affair also marked an offensive renewal for the hosts who had managed just a single hit in back-to-back shutout losses at Poquoson and York.

“Hopefully, this opens us up,” Lady Trojan coach Betsey Lane said after her team’s 19-hit outing. “We haven’t been hitting, and we made some errors at Poquoson. We had zero hits at Poquoson and only one at York.”

But Lane had to be pleased as her squad got on the scoreboard in the first inning against Bordon who walked Maria Bates and bounced a pitch off Laura Bauer. With two aboard, Dominique Johnson lined Bordon’s first offering into left field to score Bates.

Warhill got out of the inning without further damage, but then the roof caved in on the Lions in the second. After McMichael drew a leadoff walk, Mills’ homer opened the floodgates.

Dede Samuels’ high fly to left caromed off Kelsey Steenstra’s glove for an error. The Lions then committed throwing errors, enabling Samuels to circle the bases for a 4-0 lead.

Tyler Fleming singled between third and short and scored on another throwing error, this time on a grounder stroked by Bates. Nikki Jones singled, putting two on base for Bauer who doubled off the left field fence, driving in both runners. Johnson then reached base on another Lion error.

Bordon retired the next two batters only to face Mills for the second time in the frame. Mills lined a single into the left-center field gap, chalking up two more RBI and a 9-0 lead.

Bordon loaded the bases on a walk to Samuels and a Fleming single. Bates then lined a two-run single to left for an 11-0 advantage.

The hosts added five runs in the third behind Fleming’s two RBI double and a run-scoring double from McMichael. In the fourth, four runs scored with the key hit a two-run single off the bat of Rachel Baldwin.