ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond Senior High School junior varsity baseball team took advantage of Anson High School’s pitching in the season opener on Monday.
Playing at home, the Raiders sent sophomore pitcher Jude Howard to the mound and routed the Bearcats 12-1 in four innings (time limit). Howard earned the win after allowing just one run on one hit and struck out five batters.
The JV Raiders used a six-run second inning and a five-run third inning to dispose of the Bearcats. Six of Richmond’s runs would come via a passed ball or wild pitch, one was scored on an error and another one on a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded.
Richmond drew 14 walks and notched six hits in the win. Sophomores Chandler Orr and Howard, along with freshmen Bryce Goodwin and Shoan Hodges, each collected a single. Sophomore Matthew Walker had two singles.
“You win baseball games by doing the fundamentals,” head coach Corey Wallace said. “That’s what we did tonight and the little things went a long way for us.
“Jude did very well,” he added of Howard. “He came out and threw strikes, which is what you want to see. He went the whole game and had a really impressive outing.”
Howard started the game by facing just four batters in the top of the first, collecting a strikeout and two groundouts in the process. Freshman shortstop Ethan Locklear made an athletic play deep in the hole to strand a runner at second.
Walker crossed the plate for the game’s first run in the bottom half, trotting home after a passed ball.
Following a 1-2-3 top of the second, including two more strikeouts by Howard, the Raiders used two walks and a single by Goodwin to load the bases with no outs in the second. Hodges would get hit by a pitch to score freshman Walker Lambeth for the eventual game-winning run.
David O’Neal scored on an RBI single by Walker, while Goodwin and Hodges scored on a passed ball and another error, respectively. Walker and Orr capped the inning’s scoring on passed balls.
Leading 7-0 after two innings, Walker notched an RBI single in the bottom of the third to right field, scoring Goodwin (walk). Howard helped his cause with a 2-RBI single to left field three batters later, bringing home Walker and Orr.
Two more passed balls in the frame allowed freshman Ethan Clayton and Locklear to come home safely.
“The guys were extremely patient at the plate tonight,” Wallace said. “We tell the guys all the time that umpires get paid to call strikes, and they swung at good pitches and I was pleased with everyone.”
The JV Raiders (1-0) will return home Tuesday to play non-conference Cape Fear High School. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.
