First Colonial Patriots Beach District Champions
First Colonial was not favored to be champions this season, however on Wednesday after a 4-2 victory over Princess Anne, they were indeed crowned the Beach District Champs for the regular season after 11 consecutive wins. The Patriots (18-2, 15-1 Beach), ranked No. 1 in South Hampton Roads, avenged an early season loss to defending state champ Princess Anne and earned an automatic berth in the Eastern Region tournament, which begins May 29 at Old Dominion.
Second-ranked Princess Anne (15-4, 14-2) ended the regular season tied for second place with Kellam, which entered this season ranked nationally by Baseball America. The Cavaliers, who split two meetings with Kellam, get the district tournament’s second seed on a tie-breaker.
Centerfielder Myles Shipp said “I didn’t think for a minute that we were going to lose this game". On Wednesday, Shipp showed some versatility at the plate, looking for a fastball, blasted one to the opposite field for a solo home run in the first inning. Then, expecting a changeup in the second inning, he hit a two-run single.
