ROCKINGHAM — Recording all of their runs in the bottom of the first inning, the Richmond Raiders redeemed themselves with a Sandhills Athletic Conference win on Friday.
Bouncing back from a loss to Union Pines High School on Tuesday, Richmond used a complete game effort from starting pitcher Colin Wheeler to defeat the Vikings 4-1.
Wheeler was effective on the hill and threw 7.0 innings to collect the win, giving up just one unearned run on three hits, while striking out seven batters.
Union Pines (5-7, 1-5 SAC) was threatening to score in the first inning, but a relay from center fielder Ethan Locklear to third baseman Cameron Way nabbed Chance Purvis for the third out.
Splitting the season series, the Raiders took advantage of some early miscues by the Vikings and starting pitcher Ryder Douglas, who gave up four earned runs on six hits and two walks in 6.0 innings of work.
With one out in the bottom half of the first, senior Matthew Walker drew a base on balls and fellow senior Alston Johnson beat out an infield single to short to put runners on the corners.
Wheeler helped his cause by singling home Walker with a line drive to right. In the next at-bat, sophomore Camron Seagraves lifted a sacrifice fly to left field, plating Johnson from third.
Junior Ethan Clayton moved Wheeler to third with a single to right, and sophomore James Eason made it a 3-0 lead with an RBI base knock to the right fielder.
Richmond’s final run of the game came when Eason swiped second, allowing courtesy runner Jullian Cline to steal home and slide under the tag.
Throughout the remaining six innings, Wheeler retired the Vikings in order twice, and faced just four batters in each of the other four frames.
Union Pines scored its lone run of the game in the top of the sixth when Purvis hit a sacrifice fly to left field, bringing in Hunter Meeds (double).
Clayton and Eason both had two hits to lead the Raiders, while Eason, Seagraves and Wheeler all had one RBI.
Richmond (8-4, 4-4 SAC) will have another three-game week next week, including a two-game series with Lee County High School (6-5, 4-1 SAC).
The Raiders will also play non-conference Uwharrie Charter Academy (2-7). First up will be the visiting Yellow Jackets on Tuesday, starting at 7 p.m.
JV Raiders split doubleheader with JV Vikings
The Richmond junior varsity baseball team split a doubleheader at Union Pines on Friday.
In game one, the JV Raiders lost 5-0. A five-run bottom of the fourth inning helped Union Pines to the win.
Mason Murray threw 3.1 innings and gave up four runs on three hits, while also striking out six batters. Jason Walker tossed two-thirds of an inning and allowed one unearned run.
The JV Raiders collected just three hits in the loss, all singles, coming from Walker, Jeremiah Ritter and Cain Hunsucker.
Richmond responded with a big win in game two, defeating the JV Vikings 22-1 in three innings. The team scored seven runs in the first inning and 15 runs in the second inning.
Landon Taylor got the win on the mound, throwing all three innings and allowing just one unearned run and no hits. He also had three hits at the plate and registered two RBIs.
Ritter, Walker and Jabari Douglas all had 3 RBIs in the win, with Ritter and Walker both collecting a double. Murray added two RBIs on two hits.
Five JV Raiders had one RBI in game two — Sam Thompson, Isaac Hinshaw, Garret Mabe, Conner Phifer and Riley Brown.
Now 6-4 on the season, the JV Raiders will play at Lee County on Tuesday.
