ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond Senior High School baseball team earned its fourth-straight win Tuesday, holding off Hoke County High School in the first of the two-game Sandhills Athletic Conference series.
Behind another solid start by senior pitcher Hunter Parris on the mound, the Raiders used a couple of key hits in the early going to grab a 4-1 victory. It was the 24th time in the last 25 games the Raiders beat the Bucks, with the lone loss coming in the series opener last spring.
Parris tossed a complete game, allowed one unearned run on six hits and struck out six batters. The win marked his team-leading fifth win of the 2019 campaign. Behind him, the Raider defense committed two errors, but managed to strand 10 Bucks batters on base.
“Hunter pitched really well,” head coach Ricky Young said. “If we would have made a couple of plays in the sixth inning, he had a chance to pitch another shutout. He put us in the position to win like he has all year.
“We got some hits early that led to some runs, but we struggled the rest of the game,” he added. “But any time we can get a conference win, it’s a good night.”
The Raiders would score three of their runs in the first two innings, before tacking on an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs in the bottom of the first, senior Jake Ransom reached safely on a single to right field, and advanced to second when fellow senior Cameron Carraway drew a walk.
That set up senior Garet Weigman, who drilled an RBI single to center field, plating Ransom from second for the game’s first run.
Hoke County threatened to score in the top of the second, loading the bases with two outs. Prior to loading the bases, Parris helped his own cause by snagging a line drive by sophomore Xavier Sumpter back to the mound. The threat would end when Parris struck out Kobe Locklear on three straight pitches.
In the home half of the inning, Ransom would connect on a 2-0 offering from Logan Goins for a two-out, 2-RBI double to Locklear in right field. Coming home were senior Nolan Allen (single) and junior Dallas Cowick (error) to make it a 3-0 ball game.
Both teams would trade scoring opportunities over the next couple of innings, with the Raiders leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth, and Hoke County stranding two more runners in the top of the fifth.
Weigman would lead off the bottom of the fifth with his second hit of the night, a double to left field. Courtesy runner Jahan Jones replaced the catcher on the base paths, stole third base and raced home safely on a Goins wild pitch for Richmond’s final run of the game.
A sacrifice fly with one out in the top of the sixth by Dorian Tucker recorded the Bucks’ lone run of the night. He scored Ben Chavis, who reached on an error earlier in the inning.
Parris would come in a close the door in the top of the seventh, facing just four batters, recording a ground out and his final two strikeouts.
Weigman and Ransom would both finish with two hits each, a double and a single. Collecting six hits on the night, Allen and Cowick would round out Richmond’s hit total. Ransom had a game-high two RBIs, followed by Weigman’s solo RBI.
“We’re just trying to play one game at a time,” Young said. “We knew we were playing a tough schedule early on, and now we need to work on being a little more consistent. At the plate, we’re up and down.”
The Raiders (8-3, 6-1 SAC) are currently tied with Pinecrest High School atop the SAC standings. They’ll be back on the diamond Wednesday at non-conference Terry Sanford High School (7-0). First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
