New Kent 14-hit attack leads to 12-5 victory over Warhill

New Kent base runner Chris Wade sprints toward the plate, barely escaping a diving tag attempt to elude a rundown and score in the third inning.

Alan Chamberlain photo

New Kent’s Trojans pounded out 14 hits off Warhill pitching on the way to a 12-5 conquest of the visiting Lions in Wednesday afternoon baseball.

The Trojans loaded the bases in each of the first three innings, pushing across a single run in the first and adding two more in the second before breaking open the affair with a four-run third.

“That’s a good day at the plate,” said Trojan coach Michael Kuper pointing to his team’s 14 hits.

“We really made their pitchers work hard, and patience at the plate paid off today,” he said. “Then we had a couple of double plays and almost had a triple play.”

Jared Mitchell’s first inning double to deep left scored Steven Carpenter (walk) to get the hosts started. After the Trojans loaded the sacks in the second, Christian Hamby bounced a single up the middle driving in Mason Tate (single) and Carpenter (walk).

Then in the third, back-to-back singles by Shawn Cousins and Blake Frye plus a walk to Tate filled the bases. Bryan Brooks’ fly to center scored one run, and a Carpenter single delivered another, touching off a wild sequence with base runners escaping a pair of rundowns.

Carpenter eluded a rundown between first and second. At the same time, Chris Wade, who reached earlier on a fielder’s choice, broke from third towards the plate. Caught in the second rundown, Wade eventually bolted home, barely ahead of a diving tag attempt by a Warhill defender. Moments later, Carpenter raced home on a wild pitch.

Walks led to a pair of Trojan runs in the fourth before Warhill got into the scoring column with a three-run fifth. The guests scored twice in the sixth while between frames, the Trojans tacked on a solo run. A Tate single along with RBI singles from Carpenter and Hamby created the final margin in the sixth.

Frye, meanwhile, claimed the win on the mound to go 4-0. He threw for six innings, striking out two and walking four while giving up 11 hits. Wyatt Delong finished in relief, striking out three and surrendering one hit.

“We got into a few jams, but we were able to get out of them without major damage,” Kuper said.

“This was a big win for us,” he added, noting his team is now 5-1 against Bay Rivers teams and 6-2 overall. “Now we go on the road for the next five games.”