FAYETTEVILLE — Enough run support through the first couple of innings, paired with some late insurance, guided the Richmond Senior High School softball team to a season-opening win Monday.
Becoming the school’s first spring sport to begin competition, the Lady Raiders defeated non-conference Jack Britt High School 9-8 on the road.
Dotting the scoreboard in four of their seven innings, the Lady Raiders scored two in the first and added five runs to take a 7-1 lead after the third.
The Lady Buccaneers chipped away through the later innings, but thanks to solo runs scored in the fifth and sixth frames, Richmond held on.
Making her varsity starting debut, junior pitcher Maddie Pearson earned the victory. She tossed six innings and allowed six runs (two earned) on six hits. She also struck out seven batters, several coming in key moments to strand base runners.
Pearson threw the first through fifth innings before freshman pitcher Emma Rusich took over with a runner on second with no outs in the bottom of the sixth.
After Rusich (1 IP, 2 unearned runs, 2 hits, 1 K) pitched the sixth, Pearson closed the seventh inning to secure the win.
Head coach Mike Way said during the preseason that the offense would carry the team early, as the Lady Raiders connected for 12 hits across eight players.
Senior infielder Katie Way went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and a run driven in, and Rusich knocked two singles in her five appearances and plated two RBI.
Sophomore infielder Hayden Robinson also collected two hits, including a double, and drove in a run. Freshman catcher Jorja Moore helped get the win with two singles and two RBI.
Pearson, senior Christi Jacobs, junior Jakayla Steele and junior Mikayla English all had a single. Senior Kady Harris was responsible for one RBI.
Sending seven batters to the plate in the top of the first inning, Richmond took a 2-0 lead off starting pitcher Jordan McCrimmon (4.2 IP, 7 hits, 8 runs, 4 walks).
A leadoff double by Way to the gap was followed by Robinson (hit-by-pitch) and Steele (infield single) reaching to load the bases with one out. Facing an 0-2 count, Moore lasered a single to left to score Way and Robinson.
Jack Britt got a run back in the home half on a sacrifice fly, but Pearson left runners on the corner with a groundout to second base to end the threat.
After a quiet top half of the second, which featured Way’s second double in as many innings, Pearson worked her way out of another jam in the bottom half.
With runners on second and third with just one out, Pearson struck out Sophie Casagrande and Emma Sandoval in back-to-back at-bats to preserve the lead.
Using a little bit of two-out magic in the top of the third, Richmond scored five runs to pad its lead to six runs. A leadoff walk to Robinson and two hit-by-pitches to Moore and Jacobs loaded the bases.
With two away, Harris became the third batter in the inning to be plunked by McCrimmon, which brought home Robinson. Junior courtesy runner Trinity Lockhart, running for Moore, scored on the next pitch, which was wild from McCrimmon.
A free pass to senior Addyson Hollingsworth re-loaded the bases and Way recorded her RBI with another base on balls.
Katee Villareal (2.1 IP, 5 hits, 1 run) replaced McCrimmon and facing a 2-2 count, Rusich barreled up a 2-RBI single on a liner to left to make it 7-1. Racing home on the base knock were Harris and Hollingsworth.
Pearson recorded a strikeout to end the bottom of the third to leave the bases loaded, her second punchout of the inning. The Lady Buccaneers got two runs back in the fourth inning courtesy of an error and an RBI double from McCrimmon.
Richmond opened its lead to 8-3 when Robinson doubled home Rusich (single) with two outs in the top of the fifth. A leadoff walk in the Jack Britt half went nowhere, as Pearson used a pair of Ks and a flyout to move to the next frame.
Again with two outs and the bases loaded, the Lady Raiders scored what would prove to be the winning run in the top of sixth. Pearson, who singled up the middle to start the two-out rally, dove across home plate when a passed ball skipped to the backstop.
The Lady Buccaneers scored three runs in the sixth to make it a 9-6 lead. Two more runs in the bottom of the seventh pulled them within a run, but a routine ground ball to Robinson at third ended the game with the tying run at the plate.
The Lady Raiders (1-0) will play twice more this week, both non-conference games being at home.
Richmond will host Randleman High School Thursday at 7 p.m. and finish its series with Jack Britt (0-1) Friday at 7 p.m.
JV Lady Raiders also win first game
The Richmond junior varsity softball team also won its season opener Monday at Jack Britt, defeating the JV Lady Bucs 14-10 in four innings (time limit).
Richmond scored five runs in the first inning, six runs in the second inning and combined for its final three runs in the third and fourth frames.
The JV Lady Raiders tallied six hits — two from Ashton Terry and one each from Nevaeh Robbins, Madeline Carriker, Addison Connor and Emma Moore.
Terry, Carriker, Connor and Kinsie Lyerly each had one RBI. Macie King pitched the entire game and allowed 10 runs (7 earned) on six hits with eight strikeouts.
The JV Lady Raiders (1-0) will host Jack Britt (0-1) Friday at 4:30 p.m.
