Trojans fall in tourney final

New Kent baseball players and coaches pose with the regular season championship trophy they share with Warhill. The title is the last New Kent earns in Bay Rivers as the VHSL is dissolving district competition next year in favor of a sectional format.

Alan Chamberlain photos

All season, New Kent hitters have wreaked havoc with opposition pitching and been a key factor in the Trojans’ run to a share of the Bay Rivers District baseball regular season title. But a pair of Warhill pitchers silenced Trojan bats as the two teams that finished atop the standings faced off for the district’s tournament championship.

Warhill owned the May 25 encounter on York’s field, handing New Kent a 6-2 setback. Lion starter Blake Willis threw four innings of no-hit ball while reliever Blake Otey gave up just three hits. Not until the sixth inning did the Trojans break up the Lions’ no-hitter.

“We put the ball in play, but couldn’t drop in any hits,” said New Kent coach Ronnie Cox. “We hit a lot of deep fly balls, but couldn’t get any in. Then we hit a lot right to [district player of the year Mike] Brumfield [at third base]. He probably set a school record for assists.”

Warhill, meanwhile, did all of its damage at the plate in two innings and in both instances after two were out. Trojan starter Chris Beshai retired the first five batters he faced, but with two away in the second and Brumfield at the plate, all that changed. Brumfield stroked a double into the gap in right-center. The next three batters drilled singles, leading to a 3-0 Lion lead.

“They did a very good job of hitting the ball the other way,” said Cox. “We kind of played in a hole the whole game, and it’s hard to dig yourself out.”

New Kent showed spark in the sixth after designated hitter Kevin Karaffa led off with a sharp grounder to deep short and beat the throw to first. Karaffa stole second and scored on Michael Carpenter’s line drive single to left.

But the Lions put the game away in the bottom of the frame, again with two out, but with a runner on third. A bad hop grounder to third eluded Carpenter to start the surge. Clay Frost then doubled and Luke Patterson singled to create a 6-1 lead.

New Kent staged a last ditch rally in the seventh and final frame. Jake Countiss tripled to the left field fence with one away and scored on Nick Valentino’s fly ball. A communications error in the infield led to Steven Carpenter’s pop-up dropping behind the mound, but Otey got Karaffa to ground out, ending the game.

The Trojans (17-5) entered the Region I tournament as the second seed out of Bay Rivers.

New Kent shortstop Mason Downer waits to tag out Warhill’s diving Luke Patterson on a sixth inning steal attempt.