Panthers sweep past K&Q

Charles City pitcher Roger Williams tossed a no-hitter while striking out 12 and helped his own cause at the plate with a solo homer and ground rule double as the Panthers downed King & Queen’s visiting Tigers 11-1.

The March 23 non-district outcome ended on baseball’s 10-run slaughter rule in the sixth inning and evened Charles City’s record at 1-1.

“Not too bad,” Panther coach Irving Bradby said afterward concerning Williams’ effort.

“He had a good day,” Bradby added. “We’re trying to get him in to pitch more, and he’s more focused on baseball this year.”

Williams’ teammates, meanwhile, helped provide all the runs he would need in the home half of the first inning. Jonathan Abbott got matters started, lining a two-out double into straightaway center field.

Williams followed with a slow roller toward third base. An error on the throw to first enabled Abbott to put the hosts ahead to stay. Williams then stole second, took third on a balk, and scored on a wild pitch.

Jeremy Abbott reached on an error to start the Panther second, eventually working his way to third and scoring on a passed ball third strike. Gregory Cotman walked and also got to third before an errant pickoff play enabled him to cross the plate for a 4-0 lead.

Dominique Williams singled and scored on Brian Wyatt’s sacrifice fly in the third. The Tigers got their lone run in the fourth on an error, but the hosts pulled away with a three-run fifth frame.

Jonathan Abbott’s ground out drove in Dominique Williams and Roger Williams followed with his solo home run over the left field fence. Jeremy Abbott later scored on a passed ball third strike to up the advantage to 8-1.

Charles City closed out the game in the sixth after Robert Adkins stroked a one-out double into deep right field and Dominique Williams walked. Both eventually scored on wild pitches. Roger Williams’ ground rule double to right-center led to the deciding run as he moved to third and scored on a wild pitch.

“We looked a lot better than we did in our first game at Amelia,” Bradby said. “We’ve still got to swing the bats better and not hold the bats back on pitches so much.

“Hopefully, we’ll be having good practices and keep the intensity up,” he said. “We should do pretty good this year.”

Five first inning walks contributed to nine runs as Charles City’s host Lady Panthers never looked back in romping past King & Queen’s Tigers 16-1.

Lady Panther pitchers Amanda Adkins and Amber Adkins combined to toss a no-hitter as the hosts evened their record at 1-1 with the non-district triumph. The game ended in the fifth inning on softball’s 15-run slaughter rule.

“Amanda pitched exceptionally well,” Lady Panther coach Kathryn Costley said. “She’s our starter and pitched four innings while Amber came in as our closer.

“I thought the girls kept their heads in the game, and I was impressed with their base-running,” Costley said. “We didn’t get a lot of opportunities to hit the ball, but the girls tried to pull pitches as best they could.”

Amber Adkins and Kanesha Jones stroked the hosts’ only extra-base hits, both doubles. Hilary Wynn, Stefanie Burch, Raven Allen, and Jasmine Binford each clubbed singles.