New Kent Charles City Chronicle

News for New Kent County and Charles City County, Virginia | March 29, 2024

New Kent walks past Smithfield for fifth inning comeback and 6-5 triumph

By Alan Chamberlain | May 10, 2017 9:34 am

New Kent first baseman Mitchell Metheny (above) puts the tag on Smithfield's Josh Farmer, but just a split second too late to record an out. Below, Trojan catcher Chris Wade tags out the Packers' Rob Dennis in a collision at the plate. Contact bloodied Wade's face, but Dennis was ejected.

Alan Chamberlain photos

Riding a no-hitter and a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning, Smithfield’s Packers appeared well on their way to an easy baseball triumph over New Kent’s host Trojans.

Trojan coach Michael Kuper best summed up what transpired from there: “Sometimes when things aren’t going well with the bats, you have to take what you can get.”

And what the hosts got were five consecutive walks with one away in the fifth to trigger an uprising that led to New Kent’s 6-5 comeback victory in Tuesday’s encounter.

Smithfield jumped on top 1-0 in the first before adding two more runs in the third and another pair in the fifth. Packer starter Matthew Cripps, meanwhile, eased past New Kent batters, except for issuing a pair of walks including a pass to Riggs Ellis to start the Trojan third. Ellis scored off an error on Lamont Brandon’s grounder.

But after retiring the first batter in the Trojan fifth, Cripps walked Ellis and Hunter Pitts.

“As soon as [Cripps] got in trouble, they started putting in other pitchers,” Kuper said.

Chris Wade walked to fill the bases, and Brandon walked to force in the Trojans’ second run. A walk to Jared Mitchell made it a 5-3 contest. Mason Tate sacrificed in another run, setting the stage for Mitchell Metheny who stroked his team’s first hit off reliever Dillon Perree. Metheny’s single drove in both the tying and winning runs.

New Kent managed just two hits (Shawn Cousins singled in the fifth) for the game. The Packers collected eight including seven off starter Wyatt Delong. But Delong held the visitors in check to finish the fifth and sixth frames and garner the win. Converted submariner Bryan Brooks pitched the seventh in relief for the save.

“We were able to battle back and mix in a couple of hits,” Kuper said after his team improved to 9-8. “We needed this because we’d lost three in a row.”

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