By James J. Lidington

ISLE OF WIGHT

Conner Soady’s bloop single in the bottom of the sixth inning pushed Isle of Wight Academy past Portsmouth Christian, 2-1, here on Friday.

Bryce Daniels walked, stole second, took third on a fielding error and eventually scored on Soady’s hit in the home team’s final at-bat. Daniels took the win for the Chargers, allowing only two hits, walking two and striking out four; Hunter Hayden recorded the final three outs to earn the save.

Ryan Boyce, Andrew Holt and Soady each had hits for the Chargers.

The win was IWA’s sixth in a row to go to 7-3, 2-0 in the Metro Athletic Conference; PCS fell to 4-6, 1-3.

PCS opened the scoring in their first trip to the plate. Daniels walked David Taylor, who advanced to second on Sam Redden’s ground-out. An IWA passed ball sent him to third and he later scored Mark Thompson’s ground-out to IWA second baseman Cole Praither.

But the Chargers countered in the second inning. Daniels walked, stole second, went to third on Hayden’s ground out and scored on a wild pitch.

After scoring their only run of the game, the Patriots stranded five runners in scoring position. Three times, they had runs at third base and could not convert.

• • •

On April 10, the Chargers scored an impressive 9-5 win over Cape Henry in a matchup of highly ranked teams in the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association’s top two divisions.

IWA was ranked sixth in the most recent VISAA Division II poll; the Dolphins were third in the Division I poll.

Senior Ryan Boyce was 3-for-4, scored twice and drove in a pair of runs. Classmate Josh Savage was 2-for-4, scored and drove in another run.

Starting pitcher Aidan Williams was 2-for-3 with 2 RBI. On the mound, he pitched 5.2 innings, allowing five hits, striking out seven and walking a pair.

IWA wasted no time in jumping on Cape Henry pitching. Praither and Noah Colyer reached on an error and walked, respectively. No. 3 hitter Boyce doubled home those two runners and cleanup hitter Andrew Holt returned the favor, doubling home Boyce. The IWA backstop later came around to score on an Aidan Williams ground out as the Chargers send 10 players to bat and took a 4-0 lead before the Dolphins surfaced at the plate.

Boyce scored the next inning on a Cape Henry balk. Josh Savage also singled, advanced on the same balk and later scored in a Williams single to make it 6-0 IWA.

Williams baffled the home team until the sixth inning. Cape Henry put their first two batters on base, then proceeded to fly out and strike out to give them two on with two outs.

They would go on to score four runs on five hits. Williams exited after 5.2 innings, clearing the way for Boyce, who recorded the final four outs of the game, allowing five hits and two earned runs.

The Chargers headed into their Easter Break with games on Monday, when they hosted Southampton at 4:30 p.m., and Tuesday versus Broadwater Academy in a doubleheader beginning at 3:30 p.m. A game last week between the two squads was canceled due to rain.

JAMES J. LIDINGTON is a teacher at Isle of Wight Academy. He can be reached at 357-3866.