New Kent Lady Trojans survive first true test of season, defeats Tabb 3-1

By Robb Johnson | May 23, 2021 11:03 am

New Kent’s Norah Murray (7) makes contact with the ball on a play that saw her end up at third base after an error. Murray scored later after a sacrifice bunt.

Robb Johnson photo

When New Kent’s Lady Trojans and the Tabb Lady Tigers meet on the softball field, the teams usually end up meeting in the playoffs with one ousting the other. In Friday afternoon’s matchup of the top two teams in the Bay Rivers District, it would be the gritty effort along with Gracie Ellis’ performance on the mound that powered the hosts to victory.

Behind 19 strikeouts from Ellis and simple execution by the hosts, New Kent defeated Tabb 3-1 to keep their perfect record intact.

After Ellis struck out the side to start the game, New Kent got on the board. Lady Trojan Jessica Taggart’s base knock drove in Norah Murray for a 1-0 advantage.

In the third inning, Murray would advance to third after an error by Tabb’s Faith Geigley resulted in her dropping a routine fly. A sacrifice bunt by McKenna Mueller pushed Murray across home plate to double their lead to two. A run in the bottom of the fifth by the hosts provided a 3-0 lead as they maintained it heading into the top of the seventh.

As the final inning commenced, the Lady Tigers began connecting on the pitching of a fatigued Ellis. Ellis surrendered three consecutive hits, including one to Hannah Maltos, resulting in Tabb’s Emily Angel being the first visitor to touch home plate in the contest. But she would also be the last.

Ellis regrouped, striking out the last two batters she faced to end the game and up New Kent’s record to 6-0 on the season.

After the contest, New Kent Lady Trojans head coach Maria Bates talked about one of the biggest games of the season for her squad.

“That is a great team,” she said complimenting the visitors. “We told the girls once they come up that third time in the lineup, they are going to get some hard hits and that’s what happened.

“In the seventh, we were just focused on outs,” Bates continued. “We were not worried about the first run and we were just trading the run for outs. Gracie had great composure striking out the last two batters.”