RALEIGH — Less than 24 hours after tryouts ended, the Richmond Raider baseball team hit the diamond for the first time this spring.
Traveling to Wakefield High School, the Raiders and first-year head coach Eric Brown scrimmaged Cardinal Gibbons and Apex Friendship high schools.
Both scrimmages lasted six innings, and to keep the games moving, innings were limited to six batters.
Against the Crusaders, Richmond finished the scrimmage ahead 3-0.
“We made all the plays defensively that we needed to make except for one pop up on the infield,” Brown said. “We executed our rundowns which is always good in high school baseball. We threw out some runners, our pitching was good and James (Eason) pitched with a good tempo and set the defensive tone for us.
“Offensively we were passive,” he continued. “Our timing was late, but that will get better. Our approaches weren’t bad, but we let too many good pitches go by and need to be more aggressive. We need to be ready to hit, and our situational hitting could have done better.”
Using a trio of pitchers, who each tossed two innings, the Raiders started senior James Eason on the hill.
He retired all six batters he faced in order and recorded two strikeouts.
Richmond scored a solo run in the second, third and fourth innings, respectively. Eason helped his cause in the top of the second, drawing a bases-loaded base on balls.
Trotting home was sophomore Preston Fann, a courtesy runner for senior Cain Hunsucker (hit-by-pitch). The Raiders’ half inning ended with the bases loaded due to the batter limit.
Sophomore Caden Nolan started the top of the third with a free pass, which led to a run scored when junior Riley Brown reached on an error to short.
Inheriting a 2-0 lead, junior Jason Walker took over on the mound in the third. In his two innings, he allowed a hit, two walks and sat down three batters on strikes.
Walker got some help in the third from sophomore catcher Evan Hodges, who hosed a base runner trying to swipe third for the second out. Senior Isaac Hinshaw applied the tag.
Richmond’s final run came in the top of the fourth when Eason recorded his second RBI on a base knock the other way to right field.
Scoring was junior Landon Taylor, who doubled down the line in left two batters earlier. Richmond finished the scrimmage with four hits, three of them coming off the bat of Taylor.
Walker faced just four batters in the bottom of the fourth to preserve the lead. Brown threw the final two innings of relief, mirroring Walker’s stat line.
In the bottom of the fifth, Brown allowed a leadoff single but later picked off the runner trying to steal third. Nolan was there to tag him out.
Shutting the door on the Crusaders in the sixth frame, Brown faced just four batters to end the game. Two of his three strikeouts came in that inning.
As a team, the Raiders drew seven base on balls. The trio of pitchers allowed just two hits, four walks and combined for eight punchouts.
“The guys proved we have lots of guys who can play different positions,” Brown explained. “We’re very versatile, which is good because we don’t have any POs and we don’t have to rely on one guy at one spot.
“Isaac played third and first well,” he closed. “Taylor, (Jeremiah) Ritter, (Conner) Phifer and (Jabari) Douglas looked good in the outfield. All of it helps us and makes us deeper in the field.”
The Richmond Observer will publish a recap and photo gallery of Richmond’s second scrimmage soon.
Below are photos of the Raider baseball team’s scrimmage against Cardinal Gibbons taken by sports editor Kyle Pillar.
