Charles City withstands early deficit, rallies to topple West Point 15-9

Charles City’s Nina Cannada (15) catches the ball in time go get a West Point baserunner out.

Robb Johnson photo

After falling behind 6-1 early in their Apr. 28 contest against the visiting West Point Lady Pointers, Chrles City’s Lady Panthers would be tested to see if they could battle back from adversity. The home team passed it with flying colors.

Charles City outscored West Point 14-3 in the remainder of the contest to win 15-9 in the Tidewater District contest.

Charles City scored first in the bottom of the second inning on a passed ball, taking an early lead. But the top of the third inning became chaotic for the hosts. A pop-up fly by West Point’s Caroline Carter resulted in a fielding error for the Lady Panthers, allowing West Point to push across two runs and take their first lead of the contest.

A passed ball added run number three for the Lady Pointers, while Ella Sweets sacrifice fly tallied run number four. A two-run RBI double by Emma Vickery would be the final runs of the frame as West Point exited the inning with a 6-1 lead.

Charles City rebounded in the bottom of the third inning, as two passed balls on pitching errors allowed two Lady Panthers to cross the plate. A single by Kaylee Stewart brought in an additional run and cut West Point’s lead to two (6-4). Another passed ball saw the lead diced to a mere run before the inning ended.

Elizabeth Reid’s RBI single in the top of the fourth increased West Point’s advantage back to two, but in the bottom of the fifth, another RBI single by Stewart along with her crossing home plate on a sacrifice tied the game at seven apiece.

But the Lady Panthers were not done in the scoring column, as Niajah Jones RBI single and two-run triple by Eryn Brown increased the home team’s lead to three (10-7).

In the top of the sixth inning, West Point sliced into Charles City’s advantage as Carter and Katherine Donahue contributed with back-to-back RBIs. But in the bottom half of the frame, Kennedi Adkins scored on a passed ball and Nina Cannada’s two-run RBI double pushed the home team’s advantage to four (13-9). Charles City would add two more runs as the hosts claimed the victory.

After the contest, Charles City Lady Panthers Head Coach Lucas Jones spoke about the comeback victory.

“This game showed that we are growing,” he commented. “These are the types of games we need to see going into the playoffs.

“They don’t understand the magnitude of what they are doing for the county,” Jones continued. “We are still looking to put the perfect game together and that is what we hope to do.”

Charles City improves to 7-3 on the season.