SHALLOTTE, N.C. – Listening to head coach Wendy Wallace’s advice about being aggressive at the plate early in the game was evident Tuesday as the Lady Raiders softball team demolished Forbush High School by mercy-ruling the Lady Falcons 13-0 in five innings in the second round of the Beach Diamond Invitational.
Behind a swarm of 15 hits, including a season-high six doubles (by five players) and three longballs, the No. 2-ranked Lady Raiders (11-2) clipped the wings of the Lady Falcons (10-4, 2A) to soar into the championship round. It was the first time in six years that Forbush lost via the mercy rule.
In Monday’s opening round win against Whiteville, Richmond was slow to get its bats going. But the Lady Raiders came out firing on all cylinders against Forbush, scoring eight runs in the first two innings.
“Owen (Bowers) and Greyson (Way) both had good days at the plate today,” Wallace said after her team’s thrashing of Forbush. “Owen progressed in each at bat, and if we can get those two (Bowers and Way) hitting consistently with the rest of the team, that’ll be positive for us.
“The pitching we saw today was a little bit faster, which is more of our style,” Wallace continued. “We were aggressive at the plate today and swung well at the ball low in the zone.”
Forbush’s senior pitcher Kaiti Mickels found trouble early, as Richmond plated three runs in the first inning. Savannah Lampley, who leads the team in batting average (.578) and hits (26) started off the game with a shot to right field and advanced safely to second thanks to obstruction by the first baseman. Two batters later, Greyson Way smacked an RBI single to left field to score Lampley.
Brianna Baysek, who has been riding a hot streak at the plate, dug into the box and drilled a 2-2 missile to deep left-center field for a two-run bomb. The ball cleared the fence and landed in the back of the bullpen, Baysek’s third dinger of the season.
Mickels struggled in the top of the second inning, giving up two more runs before being chased from the circle after 1.1 innings pitched. Payton Chappell brought home Madison Jordan on an RBI single, and Lampley hit a towering shot down the right field line for a solo shot that stayed just inside the foul pole to put Richmond up 5-0. Mickels faced 10 batters, collected just four outs and gave up seven hits and five earned runs.
Forbush head coach called in sophomore pitcher Gracen Davis to take over the pitching responsibilities, and fared similarly to Mickels. With two out in the top of the second, the Lady Raiders rallied to score three more runs. After Way collected her second single in two innings, Baysek and Kayla Hawkins drew walks to load the bases. Taylor Parrish delivered with a double that scored two more, and Hawkins would end the inning by scoring on a passed ball.
Way, who made her 13th start of the season in the circle, was dominant all afternoon. In her five innings pitched, she saw four or fewer batters in four of them. Her toughest inning came in the home half of the second, when she faced six batters and gave up two walks and a single to load the bases with just one out. But Way pounded the strike zone and got two of her six strikeouts to end the threat.
After Tuesday’s win, Way surpassed fellow Sandhills Athletic Conference pitcher Ina Womack (Hoke County) as the No. 1 4A strikeout pitcher in the state. Through 13 games this season, Way has racked up 115 strikeouts in 81 innings pitched (1.41 strikeouts per inning). She is also 10th in earned run average, keeping it at a comfortable 1.73 ERA.
Richmond wouldn’t score again until the top of the fourth inning when Baysek ripped her first of two doubles on the afternoon with one out. Baysek came home when Paige Ransom hit an RBI single to center field, and moved Hawkins to third base (who reached on another walk). Kenzie Webb entered the lineup for the first time of the game and brought two more runs in with a well-struck double to the left-center gap. Heading into the bottom of the fourth, Richmond maintained an 11-0 lead.
Bowers, who has struggled lately at the dish, righted the ship when she creamed a home run to dead center field, a solo shot, in the top of the fifth inning. Hawkins would end the game’s scoring with a sacrifice fly to right field, which scored Way from third (who had reached on a walk).
Jordan, Lampley, Parrish and Webb all had one double on the day, and Baysek had a team-leading two. The six doubles in the game were second-most for a single game in Richmond’s history (it had seven against Pinecrest High School in 2010). The Lady Raiders’ three home runs (Baysek, Bowers and Lampley) were one short of tying a season and program-high four in a game.
Nine of the 11 Richmond batters who recorded an at-bat got a hit in the win, with Baysek leading all batters with a three-hit performance (homer and two doubles). Way threw five innings of shutout ball, gave up just two hits and earned six strikeouts.
“It’s good to come down to this tournament and face different teams,” Wallace explained. “There’re different styles of pitching, and it’s nice to get to see some new competition and a change of pace from conference teams.
“I tell Greyson to be aggressive pitching and get ahead in the count early, which she does a good job with,” Wallace added. “We also need to stay aggressive at the plate and hopefully have something in the tank for tomorrow.”
Richmond will play in the championship game of the Beach Diamond Invitational Wednesday at 7 p.m. against the winner of Northwest Guilford and West Brunswick high schools. That game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday and has yet to determine a winner.
