WADESBORO — The Lady Raider softball team used 18 hits and a no-hitter to cruise past non-conference Anson High School on Wednesday.
Meeting for the first time since the season opener in late February, Richmond used a 10-run seventh inning to sweep the Lady Bearcats 17-1 on their senior night.
Senior pitcher Greyson Way tossed her second no-hitter of the season, allowing one unearned run on four errors and two walks. The Lady Raider ace also struck out 10 batters to earn her 16th win of the spring.
Eight different Lady Raiders recorded at least one hit, with six of them tallying at two or more. Junior catcher Kayla Hawkins led the way with her best performance of the season, going 4-for-5 with a pair of homers and five RBIs.
Freshman outfielder Maylyn Wallace had herself a night as well, going 3-for-3 with a double and two base knocks. Fellow freshman Kenleigh Frye continued her hot streak, collecting two hits for three RBIs.
Richmond roped five doubles on the night, and sophomore Payton Chappell also went yard. Chappell, senior Taylor Parrish and sophomore Paige Ransom each had two RBIs apiece.
“We jumped out early and hit the ball really well in the first two innings,” head coach Wendy Wallace said. “Then we lost a little bit of focus in the middle innings, but picked it back up. Hitting is contagious and once we started hitting during that last inning, the runs just kept coming in.
“Maylyn did really good and came out swinging,” she added. “She doesn’t get a lot of at-bats, but she wasn’t timid. That’s a positive for us to have someone like her we can go to.”
The Lady Raiders jumped out to a 6-0 lead after two innings against Anson’s Haileigh Boone. A Ransom RBI single and a Frye bases-loaded walk made it 2-0 after one, as Chappell (solo shot) and Hawkins (two-run homer) added longballs in the second. Parrish also knocked in a run on an error at third.
Way and Boone battled each other from the third through fifth innings, not allowing any runs to cross the plate. During that span, Way sat down all nine batters in order.
Each team scored a run in the sixth inning, starting with a Ransom RBI single to left, scoring freshman Allyiah Swiney. Three errors in the bottom half by the Richmond defense allowed Jordan Sikes to score Anson’s lone run.
The Lady Raiders’ bats exploded in the top of the seventh, spreading out eight hits in 14 plate appearances. Frye lined a two-run double to the left-center gap, Swiney scored Wallace on a ground out and Chappell traded places with Frye two at-bats later.
Senior Savannah Lampley recorded her second hit of the night, an RBI single to second base, plating Chappell. Parrish would connect on a two-RBI single to left, before Hawkins sent a three-run blast to dead center to make it 16-1.
Frye ended the game’s scoring with a single to center, allowing Wallace to score. Parrish scored a game-high four runs, Lampley crossed home safely three times and Chappell, Hawkins and Wallace each scored twice.
Richmond (16-2, 12-1 SAC) will be back in action Thursday in its final regular-season Sandhills Athletic Conference game at Scotland High School (10-7, 6-7 SAC). The Lady Raiders will go for the sweep and look to spoil the Lady Fighting Scots’ senior night starting at 6 p.m.
