Late New Kent rally falls short, York escapes 2-1

York base runner Jamie Lewis (13) puts on the brakes, but he can’t escape New Kent second baseman Michael Carpenter who closes in to tag out Lewis on a sixth inning steal attempt.

Alan Chamberlain photo

New Kent’s pitching showed up Monday. Starter Steven Carpenter and reliever Tyler Lambert combined to limit York’s Falcons to five hits. Unfortunately for the host Trojans, the bats failed to materialize.

York pitcher Gabe Simmons proved equally effective, holding the Trojans to four hits. And the Falcons made best use of the runners that did get aboard, pushing across solo runs in the second and last innings to squeeze out a 2-1 win, spoiling the Trojans’ baseball home opener.

“We didn’t even get a guy to third base except once in the last inning,” complained Trojan coach Ronnie Cox whose team fell to 1-2. “Our pitching enabled us to stay in the game and possibly win it. I don’t know what we’re going to have to do to get the bats rolling.”

Carpenter struck out four, walked four, and gave up four hits in six innings of work. The only breakdown occurred in the second when York’s Jamie Lewis doubled and scored.

In the seventh and final frame, the Falcons placed runners at the corners with Lambert on the mound in relief. Lambert then uncorked a wild pitch, enabling York’s second run, ultimately the deciding run, to score.

“Our margin for error is so slim that we can’t afford one walk or one passed ball,” Cox said. “Last year, we didn’t have to worry about that since we were usually up five to seven runs.”

Lambert made amends in the bottom half of the seventh, leading off and lining Simmons’ first pitch into the left-center field gap for a double. Lambert advanced to third on a ground out and raced home on Trey Cox’s bouncer to first. The rally, however, ended there as Simmons got Clay Simpson to pop out in shallow center to end the game.

“We have only four players back who saw any kind of starting time last year,” Cox said. “We’re working in a lot of new guys. It’s going to take some time, and I’ll just have to be patient.”