RAEFORD, N.C. – When the Richmond varsity baseball team traveled to Hoke County High School on Tuesday, a win was almost a necessity.
The Raiders entered the game sitting alone in fifth place in the conference standings with a 3-3 record, but only two games out of first place which was shared by Hoke, Pinecrest, and Jack Britt, who all had 4-1 records.
Unfortunately, costly mistakes once again doomed the Raiders as they fell on the road 6-5 to the Bucks.
It was the fourth time in just 10 games that the Raiders have accumulated four or more errors in a single game, and the four recorded in Tuesday’s loss really played a big part in the outcome.
The Raiders entered the bottom of the third inning with 3-0 lead. Raider pitcher Trey Watkins, who retired the Bucks in order in the first and second innings, looked to be continuing that trend when he got ahead in the count (0-2) against Hoke County second baseman Will Bryant.
After Bryant fouled away the next pitch, Watkins then missed the strike zone on four consecutive pitches sending the Buck to first base. A sacrifice bunt by Hoke right fielder Ben Chavis sent Bryant to second.
Then Buck catcher Dakota Walker reached first base after strike three was dropped. In an effort to get the out at first, Raider catcher Garet Weigman recovered the loose ball and sent it sailing past first baseman Jake Ransom allowing Bryant to come home and Walker to advance to second.
After the Raiders missed those opportunities to get the first three batters out and end the inning, the Bucks made them pay. The next four Hoke County batters recorded a double and three singles, plating two more runs and loading the bases in the process. Another errant pass to first base, this time by shortstop Tyler Bass, helped the Bucks score twice more before the inning ended.
Hoke’s only other score came in the bottom of the fourth inning. Buck center fielder Kobe Locklear hit a 2-out, RBI-single to bring home Chavis. Chavis had gotten on base earlier in the inning courtesy of another dropped third strike.
Richmond also took advantage of Hoke’s miscues. Weigman recorded Richmond’s only RBI of the night on a sacrifice play in the top of the third, and Jonathan Lee came home from third after courtesy runner Jahan Jones was caught in a rundown between first and second bases in the top of the seventh. The other three Raider runs were the result of passed balls and errors.
Lee and Ransom each went 2-for-4 on the night at the plate. Cameron Carraway singled in his only at bat in the top of the seventh, and would eventually make it to third base as the potential tying runner, but was stranded when Watkins struck out for the final out of the game.
With the win, Hoke is now three games ahead of Richmond in the standings. The last time the Bucks finished ahead of Richmond in the conference standings was back in 1998. Hoke was also helped out by Purnell Swett (1-11, 1-6 SAC) who shocked Jack Britt (7-2, 5-2 SAC) 4-2, earning their very first win of the season. The Raiders dropped to 5-5 on the season and 3-4 in conference play.
Richmond will step out of the conference when it hosts Hartsville (S.C.) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and then will host Hoke County for the second game of the series on Thursday at 7 p.m.
