Alert Panthers use passed ball to propel to baseball victory

Charles City's Andre' Mason applies a tag on King & Queen's Noah Morris (36) during a steal attempt to get the out.

Andre' Jones photo

Since Charles City’s baseball team returned from spring break, Panther head coach Demetric Leeper has focused on teaching his team about special situations in a game that may swing momentum. Apparently, his team paid attention.

The host Panthers used a passed ball on what could have ended the fourth inning and turned it into three runs that became the deciding factor in a 4-2 win over the visiting King & Queen Tigers.

Trailing 2-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth, Charles City saw batters Michael Callahan and Trevor Kelly succumb to strikeouts. Austin Baldwin’s double placed him in scoring position. After Leeper inserted pinch-runner Devin Smith, Panther batter Dwayne Ghee stepped to the plate.

Facing a 2-2 count, Ghee swung at the ball that hit the dirt for the strikeout. The ball, however, eluded Tiger Catcher Tristan Sumner and Ghee scrambled for first base. An errant throw by Sumner to right field allowed Smith to score from second to knot the game at two apiece.

With new life, Charles City capitalized as Charles Brown walked was followed by Derrick Richard’s single, bringing home Ghee from second base. A wild pitch allowed Brown to steal home base, giving the hosts a 4-2 lead.

King & Queen had an opportunity to return to the lead. In the top of the sixth inning, Richard, now on the mound, walked two batters. Along with an error from third baseman Andre’ Mason, the bases were loaded with only one out. But Richard regained composure, striking out King & Queen’s Mark Rouse and forcing Tiger batter Vinny Burton to ground out to end the inning. Charles City closed out the game with Baldwin catching a fly ball and throwing it to teammate Craig Jones to seal a double play and give the hosts a win.

After the contest, Leeper gave credit to the team’s performance and complimented them on their defensive play in the field.

“We got off to a strong start and after that we went with the flow,” he said, pointing to only one Tiger hit reaching the outfield for the whole contest.

“That fourth inning was an example of how we have been paying attention to special situations,” Leeper continued. “Seeing that passed ball and with Dwayne (Ghee) taking off shows us that we were aware of the situation and it resulted in those three runs. I am very proud of them and the way we played today.”

Charles City snapped a five-game losing streak and improved to 2-6 on the season. Baldwin earned the win, going five innings and striking out six batters while Richard picked up the save in two innings of work.