Trojans stumble against Poquoson

New Kent catcher Quentin Schaefer blocks the plate and tags out Poquoson's sliding Trey Hicks in the second inning.

Alan Chamberlain photo

Not in his wildest dreams did New Kent baseball coach Ronnie Cox envision his Trojans absorbing a 10-run slaughter rule loss to Poquoson’s visiting Islanders. Certainly not after the Trojans inflicted that kind of punishment on Jamestown’s Eagles just two days earlier. But, it happens.

The Islanders took advantage of 11 walks issued by a trio of New Kent pitchers, not to mention 10 hits, in whipping the Trojans 13-3 in six innings Friday afternoon.

“What a difference 48 hours makes,” said a disappointed Cox after watching his team fall to 10-5.

“We walked a lot of guys,” he said. “Then we couldn’t string hits together and couldn’t get a rally going. Nothing ever materialized.”

Poquoson (8-6) took a 1-0 lead in the second inning before the roof fell in on the Trojans in the fourth (five runs), fifth (three more), and sixth (the final four).

Trojan bats, meanwhile, made little headway against Islander pitcher Cole Jackson who allowed just two hits over five innings before surrendering three more when the hosts made a last ditch effort to extend the game in the sixth.

But New Kent had fallen behind 9-0 before getting on the scoreboard in the fifth on Brennan Gray’s grounder to score Clay Simpson (double). Down 13-1 in the sixth, the hosts got a ground rule double from Tyler Lambert and a Kevin Karaffa RBI single. Next, Simpson singled to drive in Karaffa, but the Trojan comeback ended there.

“Poquoson doesn’t beat themselves, and they’re very patient,” Cox said. “We’ve got to play a much tighter game to beat them.”