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[Sonny Dearth]

New Kent wins softball region

By NORM WOOD | nwood@dailypress.com

NEW KENT-- As New Kent and Poquoson prepared to meet Friday on a softball field for the fifth time this season, players and coaches knew they had nothing left to hide from each other.

There were no mystery pitches, no surprise utility players and no unexpected decisions.

Not much changed in the final result either. New Kent earned its fourth consecutive win against Poquoson, defeating the Islanders 4-2 to take the Region I championship.

The victory means New Kent will host a quarterfinal Tuesday at 5 p.m. in the Group AA state tournament against Fort Defiance, a Shenandoah Valley team that lost 7-1 Friday night in the Region II title game to nationally ranked Broad Run of Ashburn.

Poquoson (18-7) must play Tuesday at Broad Run.

New Kent (22-3) scored two runs in the sixth inning to virtually seal the victory. After Kayla Timberlake and Ashley McMichael hit back-to-back one-out singles in the sixth, Nikki Jones came through with her third single on a play that also included two errors.

Dominique Johnson, who ran for Timberlake, managed to score from second after Jones’ single to put New Kent ahead 3-2 when left fielder Shannon Rollins committed a throwing error. McMichael also scored after the single to make the score 4-2 with some help from a throwing error by third baseman Page Turner.

"They need to put this one away," Poquoson coach Todd Bowden said, regarding how he wants his team to remember its latest loss. "They just made a few uncharacteristic mistakes there in the sixth inning and it ended up costing us."

Poquoson pitcher Sarah Evans (16-5) gave up nine hits, but only one of the four runs was earned.

Despite struggling through a first inning in which Poquoson took a 2-0 lead, highlighted by Brandy Wyatt’s RBI groundout and a run-scoring throwing error by Tyler Fleming, New Kent pitcher Becca Mills (22-3) bounced back with nine strikeouts.

"(New Kent) knew what (Evans) has and what she throws, but it’s the same thing with Becca," New Kent coach Betsey Lane said. "(Poquoson) knows how Becca likes to pitch, too. The bottom half of our lineup came through today. Ashley, Nikki and Kayla had been seeing the ball really well coming into today."

McMichael, Jones and Timberlake, New Kent's Nos. 5, 6 and 7 batters, all had multi-hit efforts. Taylor Newcomb, the No. 8 hitter, had an RBI single in the second to cut Poquoson’s lead to 2-1. In the fourth inning, Jones stroked an RBI single to center field to tie the game.

"You kind of just figured out what (Evans was) going to do," said Timberlake, who was 2-for-2. "She’s a great pitcher, but I just had a good feeling at the plate today."

NEW KENT 4, POQUOSON 2

Poquoson 200 000 0 – 2 4 3
New Kent 010 102 x – 4 9 2
WP – Mills (22-3). LP – Evans (16-5). Standouts – Poquoson, Turner 2-4 (1 run), Evans (pitched complete game, gave up 9 hits and 1 earned run, struck out 1, walked 0); New Kent, Mills (pitched complete game, gave up 4 hits and 0 earned runs, struck out 9, walked 3), Jones 3-3 (1 RBI), Timberlake 2-2, McMichael 2-3 (1 run). Records – Poquoson 18-7, New Kent 22-3.