ROCKINGHAM — Heading into the 2019 season opener Wednesday, Lady Raider head softball coach Wendy Wallace knew addressing mental toughness was on her team’s to-do list this spring.
What she didn’t expect was having to battle out of a late-game deficit to earn Richmond’s first win.
Welcoming in Anson High School to kickoff the new campaign, the Lady Raiders scored 13 runs in the sixth inning to overcome a six-run deficit. A couple of key hits and four RBIs apiece from senior Taylor Parrish and sophomore Paige Ransom helped the Lady Raiders secure their first win of the season 16-10.
Rain moved into the area during the middle innings, and quickly impacted both pitchers’ performances. Richmond’s Greyson Way and Anson’s Ashlyn Gatewood combined for eight wild pitches, while allowing 23 of the game’s 26 runs to be scored in the fifth and sixth innings.
Entering the bottom of the sixth inning, the Lady Raiders trailed 9-3. The last time they’d trailed by at least five runs in the sixth inning or later was on senior night against Scotland High School last spring. Richmond rallied to win that game thanks to a Payton Chappell walk-off single.
This time around, it was a combination of walks, wild pitches and a couple of clutch hits that put Richmond in the win column.
“The good thing is we battled back and found a way to win,” Wallace said. “We weren’t expecting to get so much mental toughness in game one, but once we got through the one bad inning, we did a little bit better.
“From the end of last season when things didn’t go our way at South Caldwell, we knew we’d have to be mentally prepared,” she added. “There are going to be times where we have to overcome adversity, and we managed to do that tonight.”
Richmond took an early 2-0 lead after the first two innings, as senior shortstop Savannah Lampley, who returns after being named the All-State Player of the Year in 2018, knocked a double in her first at-bat of the season. She scored the team’s first run two batters later when Gatewood threw a ball to the backstop.
Parrish led off the bottom of the second inning by belting a first-pitch fastball over the left field fence for a solo home run, Richmond’s first of the season.
Way, who is the reigning 4A strikeout and wins leader, overcame two early errors on the infield by striking out the first six batters she faced.
Things went Anson’s way in the top of the fifth inning, as the Lady Bearcats (0-1) plated six runs to take a 6-2 lead. Way walked eight batters in the inning, three of which came with the bases loaded, and gave up just one hit (an RBI single by Grace Morgan).
Wallace noted that Way “battled through” the tough inning and “settled down” the rest of the game in the circle.
Lampley led off the home half of the inning by taking first on a hit-by-pitch, and stole second and third base to get into scoring position. She scored the lone Richmond run in the inning, cutting the deficit to three runs, following an Anson attempt to pickoff Ransom at first after a soft lineout.
The Lady Bearcats responded with three more run in the top of the sixth inning, drawing another bases-loaded walk, and scoring two more on an Emmoria Cuthbertson double to right field.
Gatewood got in a bind in the bottom of the sixth when she plunked three of the first four Lady Raiders in the inning to load the bases. Ransom, who led the team with 11 home runs last season, slapped a two-run double off the left field wall, scoring Madison Jordan and Kearston Bruce, making it 9-5.
Back-to-back walks Way and junior Kayla Hawkins saw another run trot across home plate, and Parrish recorded her second RBI of the game with a single to left field, scoring Ransom from third.
With the bases still loaded, Gatewood threw another wild pitch, scoring Way. In the same at-bat, Hawkins would tie the game on another errant pitch.
A bases-loaded walk to Bruce, coupled with a Chappell run thanks to a wild pitch, made it 11-9 in favor of the Lady Raiders. Ransom capped off her night with her final two RBIs, sending a single to left field, scoring Jordan and Bruce.
Parrish ended Richmond’s scoring with a two-out double to left field, bringing home Ransom and Way.
“We’re normally aggressive at the plate, but tonight with the rain, we completely changed our game plan,” Wallace said. “I told them not to swing until they had one strike, and even then I wanted them to be selective of what pitches to swing at.
“I’ll take the win, for sure,” Wallace concluded. “Being down is not where we like to be, but we did come back from it. It’s a good way to start the season.”
Leading Richmond with three hits was Parrish (homer, double, single), with Ransom adding two more. The Lady Bearcats out-hit Richmond eight to seven, but Way’s 12 strikeouts helped seal the deal.
Lampley scored a game-high four runs from the leadoff spot. As a team, the Lady Raiders also drew 13 walks.
The Lady Raiders (1-0) will be back in action and open Sandhills Athletic Conference play on Tuesday, March 5, at Purnell Swett High School. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
Note: The Lady Raider junior varsity game, which was scheduled to be played following the varsity game, was postponed due to wet field conditions. Richmond and Anson will make the game up on Wednesday, March 6, at 4:30 p.m.
