ROCKINGHAM — The Raider baseball team had stranded seven runners on base, five in scoring position, before junior Isaac Hinshaw dug in with two on and two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning on Friday.
With the Raiders trailing by a run and Ethan Clayton and James Eason representing the tying and game-winning runs, Hinshaw won the lefty-on-lefty battle with relief pitcher Dillon McBurnett.
On a 3-1 offering, Hinshaw recorded the final of Richmond’s eight hits, walking the game off with a two-RBI single to left field.
Richmond earned a 3-2 win and picked up a pivotal Sandhills Athletic Conference win after falling to the Cavaliers earlier in the week.
Giving the Raiders a chance to steal the game late was junior pitcher Camron Seagraves. In his second start of the season, Seagraves was dominant and threw 6.0 innings of no-hit baseball.
He notched his second straight double-digit strikeout performance with 10 Ks, and allowed two unearned runs in the top of the third inning.
Seagraves was replaced due to the pitch count and taking over in the seventh was Eason, who gave up a hit and struck out two batters.
The hit by T.J. McCauley saw a relay from Ethan Locklear to Ashton Phifer to Seagraves to catch McCauley overstepping the bag at second to eliminate the potential insurance run.
Through the first three innings, Seagraves struck out two batters in each frame. In the first, he got some help when junior catcher Cain Hunsucker hosed Cam Richey trying to steal second. Applying the tag was junior second baseman Zaviar Lowry.
Seagraves sat the Cavaliers down in order in the second, and picked up two strikeouts to start the third before loading the bases on three consecutive walks. Southern Lee took a 2-0 lead when an error on a fly ball to left field found the outfield grass.
Ending the inning, Hunsucker received a relay throw from the outfield and tagged out Jalan Jones to keep another run off the board.
The Raiders had a chance to score in the first but left two stranded on second and third, and a runner caught stealing in the bottom of the second erased another opportunity.
Two ground outs and another punchout by Seagraves registered a 1-2-3 top of the fourth, which then saw Richmond pull within a run in the home half.
A one-out single by senior Ashton Phifer to right field resulted in a trip to third base when the right fielder misplayed the ball and it rolled to the wall. Two pitches later, Kale Scruggs (6.1 IP, 1 run, 11 Ks) threw one to the backstop, allowing Phifer to score.
Seagraves stayed in rhythm with his third 1-2-3 inning of the game in the top of the fifth, but the Raiders couldn’t take advantage with a pair of runners in scoring position in the next half frame.
A leadoff walk to Ashton Donathan to start the sixth saw him move to third on two throws in the dirt. Seagraves buckled down and collected two more Ks and a groundout to Eason at short to preserve the one-run deficit.
Eason made quick work in the seventh thanks to the defensive relay and two strikeouts.
Hunsucker beat out an infield single to lead off the home half of the seventh, but was retired on a Seagraves fielder’s choice.
With Clayton at the dish and McBurnett on the mound, a wild pickoff attempt to first saw Seagraves go first to third and try to score, but he was tagged out by Donathan at the plate.
Clayton drew a walk and Eason ripped a single, his team-leading third hit of the game to center, and moved to second on the throw to third.
That gave Hinshaw the green light to unload on McBurnett’s offering, a fly ball that landed in front of Cooper Moss in left. Clayton scored easily and Eason slid under the relay for the winning run, igniting a celebration down the first base line with Hinshaw.
Adding singles in the win were Caden Nolan and Landon Taylor, and the Raiders drew five walks.
Richmond (4-1, 1-1 SAC) will play three games next week, starting with a home-and-home series with Pinecrest High School (5-1, 0-0 SAC). Tuesday’s game will be on the road and Friday’s game will be at home, both starting at 7 p.m.
Next Saturday, the Raiders will travel to non-conference West Stanly High School.
JV Raiders edge Southern Lee late
The Richmond junior varsity baseball team improved to 2-0 on Friday with a win over Southern Lee.
In a low-scoring affair, the JV Raiders earned a 2-1 win, scoring the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Freshman Evan Hodges pitched a gem, tossing a complete game. He allowed just one unearned run on three hits and struck out five batters.
Richmond took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when freshman Caden Nolan (error) scored on a passed ball.
Southern Lee tied it in the top of the fifth, but sophomore Jeremiah Ritter (single) scored the final run when he tagged up on a Jason Walker popout to second.
Richmond had seven hits, all singles, led by Ritter’s two base knocks. Adding a hit were Hodges, Walker, C.J. Jenkins, Brooks Calhoun, Garret Mabe and Riley Brown.
“Evan threw just 65 pitches, he filled the zone up and was really efficient,” head coach Ryan Mercer said. “It was a great start by him that set the tone. He continued to find the strike zone when it was tied 1-1.
“Jeremiah had a big leadoff single, showing the 10th grader that he is. Caden moved him to third and Jason battled with two strikes to get Jeremiah to score. Those were our three best at-bats when we needed them most.”
The JV Raiders (2-0, 1-0 SAC) will return to play on Tuesday at home against Pinecrest High School, starting at 5 p.m.
