LUMBERTON — Entering the season, Raider head baseball coach Ricky Young said his team’s pitching would have to deliver in order to win games.
Richmond’s pitching has been the story of the past two weeks, as another complete game shutout, coupled with an explosive five-run seventh inning, led to the Raiders’ seventh-straight win Wednesday.
Senior pitcher Hunter Parris recorded his team-leading sixth win of the 2019 campaign, holding Lumberton High School scoreless in a 6-0 victory. In his last three starts, Parris has tossed three complete games, allowing just two runs (one earned).
Against the Pirates, Parris was efficient in throwing just 68 total pitches, while giving up just two hits, no walks and striking out eight batters.
“Hunter totally controlled the game on the mound,” Young commented. “He has pitched really well lately and did a great job at giving up just two hits. And he did it all on just 68 pitches.”
In his seven innings of work, Parris sat the Pirates down in order in five of them, surrendering lone singles in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings.
After both teams meandered through the first three innings without plating a run, the Raiders would score the eventual game-winning run in the top of the fourth. Senior catcher Garet Weigman reached base safely with one out courtesy of a Hayden Hunt error at second.
Courtesy runner Jahan Jones would replace Weigman and steal second to get into scoring position. Fellow senior Garret Richardson knocked a swinging bunt to pitcher Parks Ledwell, and reached on a Ledwell error. On the same play, Jones raced home to make it 1-0.
Both teams would trade scoreless inning until the top of the seventh, when the Raiders “broke the game open” by adding five insurance runs with a little help from Ledwell and the Pirate defense.
Jones and senior Evan Hudson led off the inning on back-to-back hit by pitches, which saw Ledwell exit the mound. New pitcher Bryce Stueck came in and Nolan Allen reached safely following a Stueck error on a bunt to load the bases in the next at-bat.
Junior Dallas Cowick made the Pirates pay when he ripped Stueck’s second offering to left field for a two-RBI single, scoring Jones and Hudson to make it 3-0.
The wheels continued to fall off for Lumberton when Stueck committed another error, allowing Tyler Bass to load the bases with no outs. That allowed senior Brett Young to step in and connect for an RBI single to right field, scoring Allen.
On the same play, Lumberton right fielder Brantley Bryant committed a throwing error, allowing Cowick and Bass to score. Young tried to stretch the play to third, but was throw out on the advance.
“We broke it open thanks to a couple of hit batters and we laid down a couple bunts to cause them to make some errors,” Young said. “Brett and Dallas came up big for us in those spots with runners on base.
“This is just a great group of kids who feed off each other,” Young concluded. “We just competed and tried to grind out good at-bats for a chance to win.”
Cowick, Hudson, Richardson and Young each had one of Richmond’s four total hits. Cowick’s two RBIs were a game-high.
The Raiders (11-3, 8-1 SAC) sit alone in second place in the conference standings, a half a game behind Pinecrest High School. They’ll return to the diamond on Thursday looking for their eighth-straight win when they host Lumberton. First pitch is at 7 p.m.
