New Kent sweeps softball series with Tabb

NK second baseman Peyton Fleming fields a third inning grounder off the bat of Tabb’s Casey Nicoletta in time to get the out at first.

Alan Chamberlain photo

With her team trailing Tabb 4-2 in the fifth inning, New Kent softball coach Nicole O’Bier figured her players needed a good tongue lashing to ignite a spark and lift them out of the doldrums.

It worked.

The Lady Trojans erupted for seven runs on six hits in the bottom of the frame. That was all the hosts needed to dispatch the Tigers and claim a 9-4 Bay Rivers District triumph on April 28.

A little verbal incentive appeared unnecessary when the Lady Trojans put up two runs in the bottom of the first thanks to a Karley Allen double, a Tiger error, and Peyton Fleming’s RBI single. But the Tigers got one run back in the second, took the lead with two more in the fourth, and pushed across another in the fifth.

“Everything that could go wrong did go wrong,” said O’Bier. “I couldn’t really explain it. We hadn’t really turned the bats on yet, and it seemed like we went from ready to go to calm.

“When they came off the field [after the Tabb half of the fifth], we lit that fire under them, and that was all she wrote,” she said.

The hosts loaded the bases before Emily Silver’s double drove in the tying runs. Kristen Saunders’ two RBI double gave the hosts the lead for good. More runs scored on pitcher Marisa Bush’s double and a single from Madison Beasley.

Bush then shut out the Tigers the rest of the way, retiring the next six batters in order. For the game, she allowed just three hits while striking out four and walking three.

The victory enabled New Kent (11-2, 12-2) to keep pace with Smithfield and remain one game behind the top-ranked Packers in the district standings.