Lady Trojans’ softball celebrate with seventh consecutive regional title

New Kent's Lady Trojans gather around as they celebrate their seventh straight regional title.

Robb Johnson photo

Sometimes experience can take years to gain. Sometimes, it just takes learning from an earlier encounter with a familiar opponent. The latter was the case for New Kent’s Lady Trojans during Friday afternoon’s Region 3A Championship contest.

Behind a five-strikeout performance by pitcher Sierra Carter, New Kent Lady Trojans defeated the visiting York Lady Falcons 4-0 to win their seventh consecutive regional championship.

New Kent split with York during the regular season, with their last encounter resulting in a Lady Trojan loss. But the hosts would not let the game slip away after scoring on a York throwing error in the first.

For five innings, New Kent held a 1-0 lead as both teams battled closely. The Lady Trojans began doing small things to move runners around the bases. The result led to Riley Waldron’s sacrifice fly to bestow a 2-0 advantage for the hosts.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, New Kent took advantage of miscues by the Lady Falcons. The result was Kenley Rowe’s two-run double driving home Rayne Otey and Mariah Leonard to increase the Lady Trojans’ lead to four (4-0). Meanwhile, Carter’s pitching only surrendered three hits, resulting in the win and New Kent hosting a Class 3A state quarterfinal contest.

After the contest, New Kent Lady Trojans’ Head Coach Maria Bates spoke about the win and the team’s focus.

“I can’t remember if we had a shutout this year, but what a time to get it against a great hitting team that York is,” she said. “We need to keep rolling with pitching and defense.

“We hit the ball well today and continue to make things work,” Bates continued. “We made them make mistakes and we kept the momentum going and I am proud of these girls.”