New Kent’s defense, pitching keeps Trojans’ baseball team undefeated

New Kent’s Andrew Staskiel (left) applies a tag on a York runner after a baserunning error.

Robb Johnson photo

Focusing on discipling and hunger, New Kent’s goal of getting better came into play in an Apr. 1 contest against the visiting York Falcons.
Keyed by great pitching and key plays, New Kent compiled a 4-0 shutout in the Bay Rivers District contest to keep their record unblemished.

New Kent broke into the scoring column in the bottom of the first when Keegan Branch’s sacrifice base hit drove home the first run of the game.

York’s best attempt to score came in the top of the second. York’s Preston Turkovich reached base by a hit-by-pitch and was replaced by a pinch-runner. But a failed bunt attempt by Cooper Leach resulted in the pinch-runner being caught out of position. New Kent catcher Jonathan Hochman threw the ball to Andrew Staskiel, who applied the tag to get the Trojans out of the inning unscathed. In the bottom of the second inning, New Kent added their second run of the night.

Meanwhile, Lane Boyette did enough on the mound for the Trojans to keep the lead. After Leach’s hit placed York back in scoring position, Boyette settled down, striking out the next two batters. Meanwhile, New Kent added two insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth, which would up the final total to four for the home team. Meanwhile, Boyette finished with eight strikeouts and gave up only two hits in the win.

After the contest, New Kent Head Coach Trevor Ronan spoke about the small plays that made a big difference in the game.

“Keegan (Branch) tracked down the ball in the top of the fifth and his hustle to get it to the cutoff man saved some runs,” the head coach said. “Because of that, we were able to strike out the next two batters. Those small plays make a difference in the game, and we continued to do what we do and made it happen.”

New Kent improves to 6-0 on the season.