CAMERON, N.C. — The Richmond Senior High School Rattlers’ junior varsity baseball team was looking to get its second week of play started off on the right foot Tuesday against Union Pines High School.
After dropping two of their first three games to open the Central Carolina Scholastic Summer League last week, the Rattlers “did all the right things” to help them past the Union Pines by a final score of 8-4.
Heading up the road to Cameron, it was a trio of pitchers who helped Richmond (2-2) get back in the win column. Rising sophomore lefty Caleb Talton pitched the game’s first inning, giving up a run on two walks and no hits, but worked his way out of an early jam to limit the damage.
Fellow rising sophomore Jude Howard carried the bulk of the pitching responsibilities, pitching four innings of relief, starting in the second inning. He allowed just one run during that span, and faced four or less batters in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings.
To close the game out was rising freshman Brycen Goodwin, who tossed the final two innings. Goodwin faced four batters in the sixth before allowing two runs in the seventh on an error and a double.
Head coach Ricky Young’s offense scored eight runs, scoring in four innings to put Union Pines away. In the top of the first, Richmond took a 2-0 lead, starting with rising sophomore Matthew Walker scoring on an error at third on a Howard ground ball.
Howard would later score when rising freshman catcher Ethan Clayton blooped an RBI single into shallow left field.
The top of the third inning saw the Rattlers extend their lead by another pair of runs. With one out, Talton reached on an error and was brought in an at-bat later when rising sophomore Chandler Orr roped an RBI double down the left field line. A passed ball at the plate allowed Orr to score to make it 4-1.
Richmond’s biggest offensive inning was the top of the fifth, as three runs would be tallied. Goodwin scored on an error and rising sophomore David O’Neal drove in a run on an RBI single down the left field line.
Dexter Mabe, a rising sophomore who reached on the error that scored Goodwin, capped the inning by beating out a sacrifice fly to right field. Rising freshman Shoan Hodges was responsible for scoring Mabe.
Howard helped his and Richmond’s cause with an infield RBI single in the top of the seventh to add an insurance run. A grounder between the third baseman and shortstop allowed Howard to race to first safely and plate Walker (single).
“I thought the whole team played better tonight,” Young said. “There was better defense, better pitching and we swung the bat more consistently. The guys did a better job of making routine plays in the field, which is what this summer is all about.”
The JV Rattlers will host Union Pines in the series finale Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.
