Lafayette’s baseball team was unable to solve New Kent pitcher Chris Beshai in Wednesday’s Colonial Conference 25 semifinals, as the Rams fell 3-1 to end their season one win short of a region tournament berth.
Beshai, who gave up one run over seven innings, did not give up a hit until Brandon Villanueva-Pernell beat out an infield single in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Beshai scattered three hits total and gave up his only run of the game in the bottom of the sixth before retiring the Rams in order during their final at bat to end the game.
“Hats off to him; he did a good job,” Lafayette Coach Rick Schenk said of Beshai. “But when a guy’s throwing the ball 70 miles an hour, you’re supposed to hit it. [Beshai] was quick pitching us and we were a little tight.”
Lafayette ace Daniel Blankinship also pitched well as the game was knotted in a scoreless tie until New Kent rallied for the game’s first three runs in the fifth inning.
Steven Carpenter’s RBI base hit started things for the Trojans in the fifth before the game was delayed 30 minutes because of lightning.
When play resumed, the Trojans picked up right where they left off as Kevin Karaffa belted a two-run double to the right-center field gap, extending New Kent’s lead to 3-0.
Lafayette got one run back with two outs in the sixth after Mark Rivera walked and then stole second before scoring on Andre Lipcius’ base hit to right, but Beshai thwarted the comeback attempt by retiring the side 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh to end the game.
“We were hitting the ball, they were just making the plays and had more intensity than us,” said Mark Rivera, one of the standouts from the Rams’ 5-4 quarterfinal win over Warhill on Monday.
Rivera, Solomon McCray and Stephen Howard are the three starters from this year who will graduate in June, and with a junior-varsity team that lost only once this spring, Schenk said the future of the program is bright.
McCray reflected back on his four years at Lafayette and said he is proud of helping to restore a winning attitude and culture to the Rams program.
“It’s been a great learning experience,” said McCray, who will attend James Madison University next year and hopes to join the Dukes program as a walk-on. “Being at the bottom of the pack a few years ago and then rising to the top taught me that if you work hard and keep your head up, good things will happen. I’m not going to let this loss define my baseball career.”
New Kent 3 Lafayette 1
New Kent- 000;030;0 – 3 8 0
Lafayette- 000;001;0 – 1 3 2
WP: Beshai (7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 5 SO)
LP: Blankinship
New Kent- S. Carpenter 2-4 (run), M. Carpenter 1-3 (2B, RBI), Karaffa 2-3 (2 RBI)
Lafayette- A. Lipcius 1-3 (RBI), Rivera 0-2 (BB, SB, run)
