King & Queen wins softball slugfest against Charles City 13-10

Charles City’s Annabelle Frederick locks in on the ball, connecting for one of her three hits during the contest.

Robb Johnson photo

Charles City’s Lady Panthers and the King & Queen Lady Tigers engaged in their second slugfest on the softball diamond in the Apr. 24 Tidewater District contest. And in the end, it was the visiting Lady Tigers who emerged on top by a narrow margin.

Behind three home runs from Janiya Brown, King & Queen escaped with a 13-10 win, extending the Lady Panthers losing skid to seven games.

Trailing 2-0 after Brown’s home run in the top of the opening inning, Charles City responded in the bottom of the first. Taniyah Williams’ home run put the hosts on the board. After Annabelle Frederick got on base with a single, Alanye’ Greene’s connection drove home Frederick to tie the game at two apiece.

After getting the visitors out in succession in the top of the second inning, Charles City took their first lead of the game. Kaylee Stewart crossed home plate after a single by Peyton Englehart. A sacrifice by Frederick drove Englehart across the pentagon to double the hosts’ lead (4-2) over King & Queen.

Brown’s second home run cut the Lady Panthers lead down to one in the top of the third. When the top of the fourth rolled around, King & Queen added three additional runs to overtake Charles City on the scoreboard (6-4). Two more runs in the top of the fifth resulted in the visitors doubling their advantage over the Lady Panthers.

In the bottom of the fifth, Greene’s RBI double snapped Charles City’s scoring drought. She would score after teammate Zaniyah Chavis’ connection to cut King & Queen’s lead down to two (8-6).

King & Queen added two more runs in the top of the sixth before the hosts made their next run. Olivia Adkins’ single allowed Williams to trot home for a score. Back-to-back hits by Frederick and Greene pushed two more runs across the plate as the hosts trailed by one (10-9). That lead was wiped out when Lady Panther Nina Cannada hit to right field drove in a run to tie the game at 10 apiece heading into the top of the seventh inning.

But in the top of the tenth, Brown connected with her third home run of the contest. Teammate Gracin Carter added a home run of her own, and Autumn Draine crossed home plate to provide King & Queen a 13-10 lead as they headed into the bottom of the seventh.

Charles City’s last gasp to win the game fell short. After a strikeout by King & Queen, Williams reached based for the hosts. However, a groundball on the next at-bat by the Lady Panthers resulted in a double play, ending the game and comeback for the hosts.

After the contest, Charles City Lady Panthers Head Coach Jeff Hayes spoke about his team facing situations they haven’t encountered before.

“We have to get better in late game situations, but it’s a process,” he commented. “We have to continue to practice and be specific in our learning process.

“We have some younger players so it will take some time,” Hayes continued. “We have to focus on the specifics.”

Charles City drops to 1-7 on the season.