ROCKINGHAM – Lightning delayed the start of Wednesday’s game one of the Western Regional Finals between the No. 1 seeded Lady Raiders and No. 2 seeded South Caldwell High School. And for the first time in 13 straight games, Richmond couldn’t strike lightning in a bottle, as it dropped game one of the three-game series.
The Lady Raiders (24-4) suffered their first loss in nearly two months, a close nail-biter, 3-2 to the visiting Lady Spartans (27-2). The last time Richmond fell to an opponent was on April 4 in the championship game of the Beach Diamond Invitational, also a 3-2 loss, in extra innings to host team West Brunswick High School.
For the Lady Spartans, it was their 24th straight victory as they took a 1-0 series lead on the road in front of a full Lady Raider Stadium.
In a game that was fast-paced despite a 30-minute weather delay, it was a battle of starting pitchers, as Richmond’s Greyson Way and South Caldwell’s Jenna Pittman traded quick innings one after another. But it was the timely hitting and clutch defensive plays of the Lady Spartans that put Richmond in a one-game hole in the Western Regional Finals for the second consecutive season.
Despite the loss, head coach Wendy Wallace found some positive light, noting that her team made solid contact all against Pittman. But an effective change-up from the junior pitcher kept the Lady Raiders guessing at the plate.
“I thought we hit the ball solid all night, and we put the bat on the ball really well the first couple of innings,” Wallace said following the game. “But (Pittman) did a good job at keeping us off balance when she started changing speeds.”
It was the Lady Raiders who got on the board first, however, as they took advantage of a series of missed opportunities by South Caldwell third baseman Graclyn Green in the bottom of the second inning.
Sophomore Kayla Hawkins roped a leadoff single between Green’s legs, and two batters later, freshman Paige Ransom reached on Green fielding error, allowing Hawkins to move to safely to second. In the next at-bat, sophomore Madison Jordan smashed an infield single to the hot corner, loading the bases for freshman Payton Chappell.
Richmond’s two runs of the game would come from Chappell, as she drilled the first Pittman pitch she saw down the third baseline, a screamer that hopped over the bag and past Green to the left field corner. But Chappell’s burst of offense was all Richmond would muster, as Wallace noted her team’s inability to surge ahead in the early going.
“The difference in the game was that we left (two) runners in scoring position with one out in the second inning,” Wallace said, alluding to the situation after Chappell’s two-RBI double. “If we capitalize there, even if we just get one run, we go up three or four to nothing. That would have put a little more pressure on South Caldwell to have to score.”
Senior catcher Owen Bowers nearly made the game 5-0 two at-bats after Chappell, but she was just out in front of the pitch and sent a ball over the fence just 10 feet out of play past the left-field foul pole.
Wallace’s squad, which is a power-hitting team that’s cranked 54 home runs and is averaging over 11.8 runs per game, had its opportunities throughout the remaining five innings. In every inning except the fourth, which Pittman got the Lady Raiders down in order, Richmond had at least one runner on base with one out or less.
South Caldwell freshman Reagan Weisner cut the deficit in half on the first pitch of the top of the fourth inning, as she sailed a solo shot to left field. It was her sixth of the year, and tied her with fellow freshman teammate Ciara Hanson for the team lead.
Way (24-4) would settle in and retire the next six Lady Spartans in order to end the fourth and fifth innings. But South Caldwell would manage to manufacture two runs in the sixth inning to give it the eventual 3-2 game-winning score.
Senior Cydney Combs led off the top of the sixth with a slow roller single up the middle that squeaked past a pinched-in Richmond infield. Hanson delivered in the next at-bat as she hit an RBI double to the base of the right-center wall.
Green would make up for her earlier mistakes by landing a bloop one-out single to left field, just out of the reach of a diving Jordan. Freshman Addison Blair brought home the game-winning run in the next at-bat, as she skied a fly ball to Jordan, scoring Hanson on a sacrifice fly.
Richmond looked to stir up some Lady Raider Magic in the final two innings, but came up just short of rallying past the visiting team. Junior Taylor Parrish led off the home half of the sixth with a no-man’s land single in shallow left field, but Ransom was robbed of a would-be hit by left fielder Logan Keller, who slid to make a catch near the wall. After Jordan sacrificed herself with a bunt to move Parrish to second, Chappell was fooled by an 0-2 Pittman change-up.
In the bottom of the seventh with the top of the lineup coming up, junior Savannah Lampley smoked the first Pittman offering to the gap in left-center field, but center fielder Calen Combs made an athletic sliding catch to her right on the warning track to eliminate a leadoff hit. Next, Bowers drew a walk, but Pittman managed to silence a faithful Richmond crowd with back-to-back strikeouts to end the game.
“They made great plays in the field against us tonight, but that’s what teams are supposed to do at this point in the season,” Wallace commented. “You expect those plays to happen. You’re not supposed to be surprised and say they robbed us of a hit. It’s just a testament that we have to go in and hit base hits — we just hit the ball right at them tonight.”
Wednesday’s loss was only the fourth time this season that the Lady Raiders were held to three runs or less, the last time being the game against West Brunswick. Both pitchers finished the night allowing six hits, with Pittman getting seven strikeouts to Way’s six.
During the Western Regional Finals last season, the Lady Raiders fell behind in game one to North Davidson High School. As unfortunate as it is, it’s a position Richmond has been in before and to Wallace, there’s still plenty of time to right the ship and hope for a trip to the state championship series.
“We need to have a short memory, come back ready to battle and get some rest,” Wallace said of what her message was to the team after the game. “We can’t let tonight hinder our chances (of advancing). That’s why we play a three-game series. We just have to go in hungry with a fresh mindset. Hopefully we put the bat on the ball and the hits fall.”
Richmond will travel to South Caldwell Thursday for game two with a 6 p.m. start time. It’s expected that the Lady Spartans will start sophomore pitcher Anna King, who Wallace noted as being “similar in speed” to Pittman, but more likely to throw the ball “up in the zone.” The Lady Raiders’ season, and hopes for their first state title, will be on the line.
The ROSports department will be at game two — follow us on Twitter @ROSports_ for live inning-by-inning updates.
