New Kent shocks Liberty Christian Academy 12-8 to advance to Group 3A state title baseball game

New Kent’s Carson Seely (1) slides into second base but ended up advancing to third after a ball gets passed a Liberty Christian Academy infielder.

Robb Johnson photo

The Liberty Christian Academy Bulldogs came into Friday morning’s contest against the New Kent Trojans with an unblemished record.

But records mean nothing in the playoffs, and apparently not to the Trojans either.

New Kent shocked Liberty Christian 12-8 in the Group 3A State Semifinals, clinching their first berth into the state title game where they will face the Caroline Cavaliers.

The Trojans scored first as Carson Seely scored on a bunt executed by teammate Lane Boyette. Michael Hetzel’s sacrifice pushed home run number two for New Kent, providing them with a 2-0 lead.

But in the top of the third, Liberty Christian began to live up to their billing. The Bulldogs began rocking hit after hit against Thomas Wilson, thus leading to a pitching change with Seely taking the mound. The move calmed down the Trojans.

Meanwhile, Liberty Christian made several uncharacteristic errors in the bottom of the fourth inning. Several passed balls and miscues in the field of play allowed New Kent to rattle off five runs to take a 7-5 lead over the Bulldogs.

Liberty Christian didn’t go away, relying on the power of Danny Demoss. The clean-up batter teed off of Seely, launching a ball over the 355-foot wall and returning the lead to the Bulldogs (8-7) as the teams transitioned to the bottom of the fifth.

New Kent returned to the small ball type of play that got them to the semifinals. A bunt by Gentry led to throwing errors by the Bulldogs. A bad throw to first by Liberty Christian and a subsequent attempted throw to second base resulted in back-to-back errors, allowing Tyler Warren to cross home play to knot the score up at eight apiece. Seely’s single drove home Gentry to return the lead to New Kent. Seely crossed home plate when Liberty Christian’s Ben Blair dropped a routine pop fly, leading to New Kent’s 10-8 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, Seely struck again, bringing home in two more runs to up New Kent’s advantage to four (12-8). In the top of the seventh, Seely forced two pop outs and struck out Matthew Vine to end the game and send New Kent to the championship contest.