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Lampley, Way break scoreless tie in sixth as Lady Raiders edge South Columbus

Senior Savannah Lampley connects on a ball during Monday's game against South Columbus.
Michelle Parrish — The Richmond Observer.

SHALLOTTE, N.C. — There wasn’t a lot of offense in Monday’s opening round of the Beach Diamond Invitational at West Brunswick High School, but the little that did happen worked in the Lady Raiders’ favor.

Playing in the first of its three qualifying games of the spring break tournament, Richmond used a couple of hits in the bottom of the sixth inning to edge South Columbus High School 2-0.

Both teams played scoreless softball the first five and a half innings, combining for just three hits, before the Lady Raiders broke it open.

Senior pitcher Greyson Way returned to the circle after missing Thursday’s game with an injury, and pitched her seventh shutout of the season. She limited the Lady Stallions (11-3) to just four hits and struck out 11 batters.

Through her six innings of pitching, Way sat down South Columbus’ batters in order three times.

In what turned out to be a pitcher’s duel, South Columbus’ Anna Suggs matched Way batter for batter during the first five innings. She held Richmond to four hits, just one through five innings, struck out five batters and was charged with two earned runs.

“Greyson kept us in the game and threw really well today, especially coming back from her injury,” head coach Wendy Wallace said. “We also played really good defense behind her. I could tell we hadn’t hit since Thursday, and (Suggs) had a different style of pitching.

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“We weren’t able to make adjustments throughout the early part of the game and (Suggs) stayed outside on us,” she added. “That made us try and pull the ball and resulted in a bunch of weak ground balls.”

Way and fellow senior Savannah Lampley were responsible for the game’s only two runs. With one out in the bottom of the sixth, sophomore Payton Chappell knocked Richmond’s second hit of the game with a flare to left field to start things off.

After Chappell stole second to get into scoring position, Lampley broke the scoreless tie with an RBI double to left field. On the throw to the plate, Lampley moved to third.

Two at-bats later, Way slapped an RBI single through the wickets of Suggs to center field, allowing Lampley to score. The other Lady Raider hit came from Madison Jordan in the bottom of the second.

The Lady Stallions made things interesting in the top of the seventh, getting two runners on with one out. With runners on first and second, Lampley ended the threat by starting a 6-3 double play on a Libby Blosser line drive to short, before roping the ball to first baseman Taylor Parrish to pick off Lacey Sykes.

“Payton was able to get the end of her bat on the ball to get us started in the sixth,” Wallace said. “Then Savannah went backside for her double, and Greyson did a good job of going up the middle. We were able to scrap out a couple of runs to earn the win.”

The Lady Raiders (18-2) will continue play Tuesday with two games. They’ll face Whiteville High School (12-2) at 10 a.m. and East Bladen High School (6-10) at 4 p.m.



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Kyle Pillar is a 22-time North Carolina Press Association award-winning sports editor with The Richmond Observer. Follow the sports department on X @ROSports_ for the best in-depth coverage of Richmond County sports.