New Kent bats shine in fifth inning of 6-5 comeback victory over Colonial Heights

New Kent catcher Stephanie Torrence blocks the plate and applies a solid tag to Colonial Heights' Ashley Knowles to end the Colonials' fourth inning and prevent a sixth run from scoring in what at the time was a 5-0 game.

Alan Chamberlain photo

Through 4½ innings, New Kent Lady Trojans’ on-field performance closely matched Wednesday’s cool, overcast weather — dismal.

Colonial Heights’ invading Colonials capitalized not only on hitting, but Lady Trojan miscues — errors, players out of position, fly balls misjudged in the outfield — to mount a seemingly comfortable 5-0 lead.

But as the hosts approached the plate in the bottom of the fifth, the clouds began to part, rays of sunshine bathed the softball field, and Lady Trojan bats blossomed. The hosts belted five hits, producing five runs to overtake the Colonials. Then in the sixth inning, heads up base running provided the deciding run in a 6-5 New Kent triumph.

“I can’t explain it,” Lady Trojan coach Nicole O’Bier said after her team evened its record at 2-2. “It was like the sun began to peek out a little bit and we said, ‘Okay, we’re playing ball!’”

In the beginning, however, the Lady Trojans appeared to struggle under the effects of a 4-1 loss the day before at Grafton. An error, a misjudged fly ball in right field, and a single that should have been an easy out at first base all contributed to a 2-0 Colonials first inning lead.

The visitors got runners in scoring position in the second thanks to an error, but the Lady Trojan defense prevented further damage. O’Bier, however, had seen enough. When the Colonials came to bat in the third, they encountered a new pitcher (Destiny Eberhard) along with a totally revamped outfield and a new face at first base.

“Nothing was working, and it was like a snowball effect,” O’Bier said. “But when things are not clicking, you make changes. That’s why you have multiple players.”

Even with mass substitutions though, the coach had to admit, “It still took us some time to wake up.”

Another error helped Colonial Heights extend the lead to 3-0 in the third. Then in the fourth, a two-out, bases-loaded blast into the gap in right-center off the bat of Kaley Moring drove in two more runs. On the play, the Colonials’ Ashley Knowles attempted to score from first, but the relay to catcher Stephanie Torrence easily erased Knowles to end the frame on a play that would loom large.

After being shelled in the fourth, Eberhard settled down, allowing no hits the rest of the way. The Lady Trojan offense, meanwhile, erupted.

Paige Simpson led off the New Kent fifth with an infield single. Eberhard then helped her own cause with a double to the warning track in left, driving in Simpson for the hosts’ first run.

Knowles, who went the distance in the circle for the visitors, grazed Peyton Slater’s helmet with a pitch to put a second runner aboard for Brittany LaPrade who bounced a single over the bag at third to drive in Eberhard. Torrence followed with a two-run double off the left field fence and scored the tying run as Madison Beasley crushed a triple to the fence in right-center.

The five-run explosion occurred with no outs. Beasley represented the go-ahead run at third but was stranded as Knowles retired the next three Lady Trojans.

Simpson also led off the Lady Trojan sixth, this time stroking a single down the left field line. A double play appeared to end the hosts’ effort to break the deadlock, but Slater and LaPrade lined back-to-back singles to left, extending the frame.

Slater sprinted off second on a Torrence infield grounder, just before the Colonials’ defense botched an inning ending force out of LaPrade at second. Slater never stopped running, beating the throw to the plate and the diving tag attempt by catcher Emily Bartholomew to create a 6-5 lead.

Eberhard then sealed the victory, retiring all three batters she faced in the seventh and final frame on infield grounders.

O’Bier labeled the five-hit fifth as her team’s best offensive showing so far this season.

“We’ve had some players getting hits here and there,” she said. “Collectively as a team today, they really put the bat on the ball.”