In battle of top softball teams, New Kent outduels King William 2-1

New Kent’s Sydney Eubank roars with excitement as she crosses home plate for New Kent to take the lead against King William.

Robb Johnson photo

A battle of two teams who are favored to be state contenders in their respective classes took to the field in New Kent Monday afternoon. And in the end, it was the hosting Lady Trojans who got a win over the King William Lady Cavaliers.

Behind a key hit from University of Virginia commit Hannah Tober in the bottom of the third, New Kent squeezed by King William 2-1 in the non-district contest.

New Kent relied on the pitching of Amber Greiner, who used two strikeouts to propel themselves to get out of the first inning. Meanwhile, King William’s pitcher and James Madison University commit Taylor Johnson also commanded the mound, striking out Lady Trojans and keeping the game in check.

It wouldn’t be until the bottom of the third inning when the hosts would get on the scoreboard. After Sydney Eubank and Kenley Rowe reached base, a sacrifice by Lady Trojan Mariah Leonard advanced the runners. Tober stepped up to the plate and blasted the ball to right field, allowing Eubank and Rowe to trot across home play to take a 2-0 lead.

Greiner kept the no-hitter in tack for the Lady Trojans until the top of the fifth. The shutout was wiped out in the top of the seventh, as Jillian Smith homered for King William, slicing the lead in half (2-1) with one out. But New Kent was unphased, as Greiner forced the next two batters to pop out, sealing the win for the hosts.

After the contest, New Kent Lady Trojans Head Coach Maria Bates spoke about her team’s win to end the regular season.

“We wanted to face the best pitching going into the postseason and we came out and started having good bats,” she said. “We began doing what we needed to do.

“Our outfield did its job in tracking down balls in the right spots,” Bates added. “Our pitching did a great job today and there is no stage too big for Amber [Greiner] and she keeps her composure out there.”

New Kent concludes its regular season with a record of 18-2.