ROCKINGHAM – The Lady Raiders’ softball team was held to just one run in Wednesday’s non-conference game against Whiteville High School. And it was just enough to win its sixth straight game.
Playing games on back-to-back nights for the second time this season, the highly anticipated matchup quickly turned into a classic pitcher’s duel. But luckily for the Lady Raiders (6-1), they were able to rely on the leadership and play of two veteran junior players to snatch the 1-0 victory.
Junior ace Greyson Way dominated from the circle, as she pitched a complete-game shutout (her third such performance in the last four games), and struck out a career-high 15 batters.
Perhaps most impressive about Way’s outing was her complete shutdown of a 1-A Whiteville squad that had won all five of its games this season by mercy-rule. Entering Wednesday’s game, the Lady Wolfpack had outscored its opponents 76-4, averaging 15.2 runs per game. But that wasn’t the case against Way, as she faced just two batters over the minimum, surrendering two doubles to senior shortstop Kourtney Grainger.
She also allowed no walks after giving up a season-high five the night before against Jack Britt High School in a 6-1 win.
“Greyson continues to hit her spots really well,” head coach Wendy Wallace said following game. “It was a pitcher’s strike zone, and she did the things we talked about – working it outside and working it back inside. She got ahead early, which makes a big difference, and when she does that, she can contain really good hitters.”
“The game plan tonight was to get ahead early in the count and mix different pitches in an attempt to throw their timing off,” Way explained. “It’s a really good feeling to find what is working for me and to use it to my advantage when I’m pitching.”
And the Lady Wolfpack (5-1) brought the heat too, as senior pitcher Ivy Hayes took care of business against the Lady Raiders’ batters. Her line consisted of one earned run on two hits in six innings of work. She also walked two batters and struck out eight.
Hayes’ only mistake came on her fourth pitch of the game in the bottom of the first inning.
It was junior shortstop Savannah Lampley who provided the game’s only offensive spark, as she muscled her first home run of the season on a 2-1 count to one of the deepest parts of the park in the right-center alley.
Lampley rounds the bases following her first home run of the season.
“When I got behind in the count, I just stayed calm,” Lampley explained. “Once I saw the pitch was a strike, I just did my thing and tried to square it up and hit it as hard as I could.
“A win like this is great for the team’s confidence,” Lampley continued, reiterating Wallace’s mention of Way hitting her spots and limiting walks. “It helps to know that Greyson can keep us in the game when we can’t score a ton of runs. It’s a great feeling knowing you can count on your pitcher to really dig deep in games (like tonight) and shut them down.”
The Lady Raiders had only a couple of other opportunities to plate some runs, but Hayes managed to work her way out of the jams. In the home half of the fourth, Hayes found herself in trouble when she walked Owen Bowers and Way to lead off the inning. With two on and no outs, she picked up two strikeouts and a fly out to center field to end the threat.
The only other Richmond hit came in the fifth inning when sophomore right fielder Madison Jordan hit a bloop single to center field just over second baseman Kaitlyn Gordon’s outstretched glove. But back-to-back infield pop outs and a strike out left Jordan stranded.
Way sat the Lady Wolfpack batters down in order in every inning except the fourth and seventh innings. In both frames, Grainger hit a double, her first off the wall in center, and the second was a hot shot down the third base line with one out in the seventh. But Way kept her composure and came back with two big strikeouts to seal the victory.
Through the first six games this season, the Lady Raiders had averaged 8.9 runs per game. In the previous five Sandhills Athletic Conference games, Richmond hung 62 runs on the board. For Wallace, the difference Wednesday was the level of play her team has faced, noting that in previous games her players weren’t seeing as many changes in pitches at the plate.
“The first batter of the game hit a home run and we thought we were going to have a good night,” Wallace explained. “But then we were put on fast forward and it was strikeout after strikeout. Offensively, we weren’t aggressive enough at the plate.
“After the game, we talked about how we’ve struck out 18 times in the last two games,” Wallace continued. “We’re too good of a hitting team to do that. We need to work on our mentality at the plate. We’ve faced pitchers (the last two nights) who change speeds really well. It’s easy to get out of having good technique when the ball is right across the plate. The better pitching we face, we have to rely on the basic fundamentals. Breaking things down and getting our swings right will be our focus.”
Richmond returns to SAC play Friday as it’ll host Jack Britt at 7 p.m. and go for its seventh straight victory.
