ROCKINGHAM — A sixth-inning rally by the Richmond Raider baseball team was undone by two late errors in Monday’s season opener against Anson High School.
The Raiders erased a two-run deficit in the fifth and sixth innings, but ultimately fell 4-3 to the Bearcats in head coach Rob Ransom’s debut as skipper.
“We competed tonight and made a little push to take the lead,” Ransom said. “There were some good at-bats by Colin (Wheeler) and Michael (Pettitt), and Hunter (Hancock) had a big hit. We just made some mistakes in some big spots, and Anson took advantage of them.”
Anson scored two runs off of starting pitcher Luke Preslar in the top of the third inning, one of which was unearned, and carried that lead into the bottom of the fifth.
Ethan Currie and Ranik Little combined to no-hit the Raiders until Pettitt looped a double down the right field line with one out in the fifth.
Two wild pitches by Little over the next two at-bats allowed Pettitt to trot home safely and cut the deficit to one run, 2-1.
Sophomore Cameron Way relieved Preslar after the senior allowed a leadoff double in the fourth, and Way tossed 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. He helped his cause by leading off the bottom of the sixth with a walk and scored the tying run on a Wheeler line drive single to center field.
Three batters later, Pettitt came up big again, this time delivering an RBI single to center, scoring courtesy runner Jaheim Harrington. It was Pettitt’s second hit of the game and gave Richmond a 3-2 lead.
Way recorded the first two outs of the seventh inning and was one out away from earning the win. But a dribbler in the infield by Little was overthrown at first, allowing Garrett Maner to plate the tying run.
Following the throw to the plate to try and catch Maner, Wheeler sent the ball into center field trying to get Little, who was advancing to second on the play. The error allowed Little to race home for the eventual game-winning run.
Richmond battled back in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with just one out. But Anson relief pitcher Wesley Lear recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end the game.
“If we don’t make the error on the ground ball at the end of the game, or happen to throw it away into center field, we may get out of it with a win,” Ransom said. “We’re young and mistakes are going to happen.
“The big difference tonight was we took too many strikeouts,” he added of Richmond 13 strikeots. “We have to do a better job putting the bat on the ball.”
Way was credited with the loss, but Ransom said he “did a great job throwing strikes” and helped “swung the momentum” in the middle innings. The sophomore struck out six batters and allowed just one hit during his relief outing.
Pettitt and Wheeler finished the opener with two hits each, and both plated one RBI in the loss. Hancock’s single to extend the fifth inning was the only other Raider hit. Richmond stranded eight runners on the base paths.
Anson managed just three hits in the game, including a double by AJ Harrington. The Bearcats used four pitchers to secure the non-conference win.
“We’re trying to learn and get ready for conference play,” Ransom closed. “We have Cape Fear (Tuesday), weather permitting, and we’re just trying to get better.”
Richmond (0-1) will have a quick turnaround and return to the diamond on Tuesday for its first road test of the season against non-conference Cape Fear High School (0-0). First pitch is set for 5 p.m. in Fayetteville.
