New Kent shuts out Poquoson in softball, falls in baseball

Lady Trojan pitcher Destiny Eberhard fires to the plate in the seventh inning. She stopped Poquoson on four hits.

Alan Chamberlain photos

New Kent pitcher Destiny Eberhard limited Poquoson’s visiting Islanders to four hits, and the Lady Trojan offense did the rest for an 8-0 softball shutout Thursday afternoon.

Eberhard stuck out three and walked only three in going the distance for the win that evened New Kent’s record at 3-3 heading into spring break.

“I think she did a great job,” said her coach, Nicole O’Bier.

“There were a lot of extra pitches thrown in there,” she said, noting that her hurler reached an unusual number of 3-2 counts on batters. “But she hung in there and she did it.”

Eberhard engaged in a pitcher’s duel in the early innings with Poquoson’s Megan Hibbs. After three frames, Hibbs had a no-hitter while Eberhard had given up a pair.

New Kent’s Payton Slater, however, ended Hibbs’ bid in the fourth with a triple to deep left field. She scored on an error on Brittany LaPrade’s drive, also to left.

Emily Angle and Harley Gostel looped singles to shallow center and left, respectively, to start the Lady Trojan fifth. Hibbs retired the next two batters, seemingly taking the hosts out of a potentially big inning.

But O’Bier wasn’t worried. “I kind of felt at ease this time. We were pretty much on with our hitting,” she said.

And she was right. Eberhard dropped a single behind shortstop to score Angle. Gostel crossed the plate on an error on an infield grounder stroked by Slater. Then after a pitching change, reliever Mo Henley uncorked a wild pitch that not only was ball four to LaPrade, but also enabled Eberhard to sprint home.

With runners at second and third, Stephanie Torrence planted a two-run single in shallow left. For the hosts, the fifth inning registered all fives — five runs on five hits — to open a 6-0 advantage.

Eberhard doubled in the sixth to drive in Paige Simpson (single) and scored on Slater’s double to the gap in right-center to build the final margin.

“We did a very good job overall despite some people playing different positions,” O’Bier said, noting illness has impacted her team.

“This is a true team and a true family,” she said. “They came together and made it work.”

Spring break, meanwhile, could not come too soon for New Kent’s baseball team. After taking it on the chin two days earlier to the tune of 15-2 against Smithfield, the Trojans absorbed another drubbing as Poquoson prevailed 12-4.

“Yeah, we do [need a break],” said Trojan coach Ronnie Cox, whose team dropped to 1-5. “I’ve got guys who are hurt. There are three starters out with injuries.”

The Trojans, however, opened on a positive note, stroking three first inning hits to wipe out a 1-0 Poquoson lead. Steven Carpenter led off with a single and stopped at third on a single by Trey Cox. Carpenter trotted home on Mitchell Metheny’s single into shallow center.

But over the next five innings, New Kent managed just two hits and could not score. Poquoson, meanwhile, unleashed a 19-hit attack, all singles, to move comfortably ahead 12-1.

“It was just a dink here and a dink there,” said coach Cox. “They dinked us to death. Balls were squirting through, but that’s baseball. We hit balls to the fence, but nothing materialized. We had runners on in the third and fourth, but the well dried up and we couldn’t get them in.”

New Kent finally added scores in the last frame when Trey Cox recorded a RBI and Metheny delivered a two-run double.

“We’re very young, and I knew it was going to be this way,” coach Cox said. “We will mature, but it’s just going to take time.”

New Kent second baseman Brennan Gray reaches to tag out Poquoson’s Trey Hicks on a steal attempt at second.