New Kent topples unbeaten Tabb in baseball

New Kent second baseman Michael Carpenter fires to first to complete a double play after forcing out Tabb’s Dylan Camper at second.

Alan Chamberlain photos

Facing Tabb’s unbeaten Tigers, New Kent and pitcher Tyler Lambert got off to a shaky start. Lambert walked three straight batters to fill the bases in the first inning. Luckily for the hosts, the Tigers managed only a single run.

But Tabb starter Travis Arthur returned the favor in the bottom of the first. Arthur struck New Kent’s leadoff batter with a pitch, walked another, and gave up a game-tying single to Lambert no less. Then he walked in the go-ahead run that put New Kent in front for good.

The host Trojans went on to take a 6-1 lead after one frame on the way to a 9-2 victory over a team that entered 3-0 with signature wins over Bay Rivers favorite Lafayette and perennial baseball powerhouse Poquoson.

“It’s crazy,” said New Kent coach Ronnie Cox alluding to the competitive nature of the district. “It’s a Bay Rivers knife fight every game. It’s nice for the kids and the fans, but it gives me ulcers.”

Lambert struck out the game’s first batter, but Cox reached for the antacids when his pitcher walked the next three. A sacrifice fly scored Tabb’s first and only run of the frame.

Arthur then bounced a pitch off Steven Carpenter’s foot to start the Trojan first. Michael Carpenter walked before Lambert crushed Arthur’s first pitch into right field for a RBI single to tie the game.

With one away, Arthur walked Kevin Karaffa to load the bases and issued a pass to the next batter, Trey Cox, to force in the go-ahead run. That was all for Arthur.

Reliever Cliff Bryant got the second out, but Zach Ferrell cleaned the sacks with a double to the left field fence for a 5-1 lead. Ferrell then scored on Tyler Robertson’s single to left.

Steven Carpenter made it a 7-1 contest in the fourth, reaching on an error and scoring on Chris Beshai’s sacrifice fly. Then the Trojans added two more in the fifth, thanks in part to four Tabb errors. Carpenter had the inning’s only hit, a single that drove in Robertson for the Trojans’ final run.

Lambert pitched six innings, giving up nine hits and striking out three, but not walking any batters after the first frame.

“[Lambert] couldn’t find the mark in the first, but then he settled down,” Cox said. “I told him to give me five innings and he gave me six.

“We played real good defense and we’re starting to hit the ball hard,” the coach said. “Hopefully that’s the way things will be the rest of the year.”

The victory marked New Kent’s second triumph in as many days and lifted the Trojans above the .500 mark.

“We’re 3-2 now,” Cox added. “That gets us back in the hunt.”

New Kent’s Tyler Robertson dives back to first base to avoid a fifth inning pickoff attempt.