Sixth inning miscues factor into Panthers 15-6 downfall against Middlesex

Charles City's Justis Crawley (left) prepares to field a throw to tag out Charger baserunner Adam Smith.

Robb Johnson photo

Charles City’s Panthers looked to avenge an earlier 17-0 defeat to the visiting Middlesex Chargers during a May 3 Tidewater District contest. However, a tight game for the first six innings transformed into a runaway due to Panther mistakes and errors, mounting too deep of a hole for the hosts to climb out and a 15-6 victory for Middlesex.

Charles City scored the first run of the game, as Raymond Fetter’s sacrifice groundout brought in teammate Justis Crawley from third base. Middlesex responded in the top of the second inning, landing three hits off Fetter, who was now on the mound. Charles City’s Joshua Seymore’s error provided life for the Chargers, who pushed across three in the inning for the lead (3-1).

The Panthers rebounded as Crawley’s blast drove in teammate Craig Jones Jr. to cut the deficit to one (3-2). Charles City added an additional score to knot the game at three apiece.

With offense at a premium, the top of the sixth inning played into the downfall of the hosts. An error by Sheldon Stewart on a pop-up allowed Charger baserunners Parker Smith and Matthew Wilson to cross home plate. Fatigue settled in on the hosts, as another Charles City error with the bases loaded provided three runs for the visitors. The hosts finally got out of the inning, but not before six more Charger players touched home plate, providing enough distance to seal the win.

After the contest, Charles City head coach Irving Bradby tried to keep things in perspective after his team dropped to 0-9 on the season.

“Our pitching was decent, but we gave up on our routine plays and that lost us confidence in the game,” the head coach said. “We started to hit the ball better, but when you’re down eight or nine runs it’s kind of hard to come back in that situation.

“We have a young team,” Bradby continued. “We are learning with the experience of playing more baseball outside of here. That will only make them better.”