ROCKINGHAM — A three-game winning streak is how the Richmond Senior High School baseball team has started its new season.
Playing a day later than originally scheduled due to wet weather, the Raiders defeated non-conference Sun Valley High School 6-5 Thursday.
For the first time in three games this season, it was the Raiders who got out in front first and stayed the course and added insurance runs in the middle innings.
Thanks to a four-run bottom of the fourth inning, which broke a 2-2 tie at the time, the Raiders hung on to remain perfect this spring.
Richmond also scored a pair of runs in the home half of the third inning, which broke a scoreless game to that point.
Junior Jason Walker pitched five innings to get the win in his first start of the season. Not rattled by a hit-by-pitch to the neck and taking a line drive off his upper body, Walker allowed four runs (three earned) on four hits, two walks and recorded seven strikeouts.
At the dish, Walker helped his cause with an RBI bunt single, part of the big fourth inning for the Raiders.
Fellow junior Riley Brown took over after the first two batters reached in the top of the sixth inning. He threw the final two frames and gave up one earned run on two hits.
To start the game, Walker induced three ground ball outs in the first and sat the Spartans down in order again in the top of the second.
A leadoff walk to begin the third led nowhere, as Walker got a pop out, strikeout and fly out to right field to keep Sun Valley off the board.
After their bats were quiet through the first two innings, the Raiders timed up starting pitcher Braylon Martin (three innings, five runs, four hits).
A leadoff single by junior Jeremiah Ritter to right field was followed by Walker getting plunked, who was replaced by senior courtesy runner Marquan Martin.
Resorting to small ball for the first of several times in the game, freshman Collin Hill successfully bunted over both runners to put them in scoring position.
With one away, junior leadoff batter Landon Taylor ripped a single to right field to plate Martin. An error committed by the right fielder allowed Ritter to also score and make it 2-0.
The Spartans (1-2) reversed order in the top of the fourth, breaking up a no-hit bid by Walker. A pair of RBI singles with two outs, the first one ricocheting off Walker, tied the game 2-2. A strikeout ended the inning and left a runner at second base.
Sophomore Caden Nolan and senior Isaac Hinshaw got Richmond’s four-run fourth started with back-to-back singles to opposite sides of the outfield. An error on a ground ball to third base by Brown in the next at-bat scored Nolan and moved Hinshaw and Brown into scoring position.
That ended Martin’s night on the mound, who was replaced by Bryson Thomas (three innings, one run, two hits). Ritter drove in a run on an RBI groundout, scoring Hinshaw to make it 4-2.
Walker dug in next and on the second offering from Thomas laid down a bunt that he beat out for an RBI single, plating Brown.
Richmond’s final run of the game came three batters later with two outs when sophomore Evan Hodges reached on a throwing error by the third baseman. The ball skipped down the right field fence, giving Marquan Martin (running for Walker) time to hustle home.
Walker faced four batters in the fifth to preserve the 6-2 lead. Sun Valley used an error, an RBI single and a wild pitch to pull within a run in the sixth.
A high pop fly just in front of the plate landed in fair territory with the tying run in scoring position with two outs. Hodges, the catcher, scooped it up and fired to Nolan at third, starting a rundown that ended with senior shortstop James Eason tagging out Thomas to end the threat.
Brown was all business in the top of the seventh, throwing just six pitches to record the final three outs on a lineout, pop out and fly ball to Ritter in center.
Both teams finished with six hits. For the Raiders they were all singles, courtesy of Taylor, Nolan, Hinshaw, Ritter, Walker and Hill. Taylor had a team-high two RBI, with Brown, Ritter and Walker each plating a run.
The Raiders (3-0, 1-0 Sandhills Athletic Conference) will close out their two-game regular-season series with Southern Lee High School (1-4, 0-1 SAC) Friday. The game will be played in Sanford and start at 7 p.m.
Sports editor’s note: The Richmond junior varsity baseball team didn’t play Thursday. The JV Raiders (0-1, 0-1 SAC) will travel to Southern Lee Friday and begin at 4 p.m.
The Richmond Observer will publish a photo gallery of Thursday’s win soon.
