TROY, N.C. — The Richmond Raider baseball team got the brooms out early this season with its sweep of non-conference Montgomery Central High School on Friday.
Capping their three-game opening week, the Raiders and head coach Rob Ransom extended their winning streak to three games with an 11-1 win over the Timberwolves.
The 10-run win was the team’s largest margin of victory this season, and senior infielder Cameron Way collected a season-high 4 RBIs for Richmond.
Richmond notched a season-high 14 hits and used three of them from junior outfielder Ethan Locklear (all singles). Adding a triple apiece were senior Will Dawkins and sophomore Camron Seagraves, who also added a single.
Other Raiders to reach base safely with a hit were Ethan Clayton (two singles), Jullian Cline, James Eason, Way, Colin Wheeler, Ashton Phifer and Jude Howard.
A trio of pitchers limited the Timberwolves (1-2) to just four hits. Wheeler got his first start of the season and tossed 3 innings and allowed just one hit and two walks.
Eason also threw 3 innings of work and surrendered three hits and one unearned run. Closing the door in the seventh was Way, who retired Montgomery Central in order and collected a strikeout.
Senior Colin Wheeler fires a pitch in the second inning or Richmond’s 11-1 win. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
After a scoreless first two innings by both teams, the Raiders found a rhythm at the plate and scored four runs in the third, before breaking the game open with six runs in the fourth.
Back-to-back singles from Seagraves and Locklear to start the third led to Seagraves scoring on an error. Two batters later, Way brought Locklear home safely when he grounded into an RBI fielder’s choice to short.
Richmond tacked on two more runs in the next to at-bats thanks to RBI singles from Wheeler and Clayton. Wheeler’s shot to center scored Alston Johnson (hit-by-pitch) and Clayton laced a line drive to left to score Wheeler.
Wheeler allowed two base runners on to start the bottom of the third, but a 4-6-3 double play started by Johnson, coupled with a groundout, ended the threat.
Eleven Raiders came to the plate in the top of the fourth, which was started by a leadoff triple from Seagraves. Locklear drove him home for his one RBI in the game with a single to short.
Sophomore Camron Seagraves celebrates after sliding safely into third for a triple. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
Another error, one of three by the Timberwolves, put Johnson on base. With one out, Way extended Richmond’s lead with a 2-RBI base knock on a liner to left field.
Way advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored when Wheeler blooped the ball to left and reached on an error.
Leading 8-0, junior Walker Lambeth, who was a courtesy runner for Wheeler, scored on a wild pitch. Howard added to the lead with a hard hit line drive to left for an RBI single, bringing home Cline, who was running for Clayton (single).
Eason took over the pitching and retired Montgomery Central in order in the fourth. The Timberwolves escaped a mercy-rule loss by scoring their lone run of the game on an RBI single from Isaiah McCaskill in the bottom of the fifth.
The Raiders had a chance to end it early in the sixth when Dakwins raced safely into third on a triple to right-center gap with two outs.
Senior Jude Howard records an out at first during the Raiders’ third-straight win to start the season. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
Singles from Locklear and Eason to start the top of the seventh allowed Way to drive in his final run of the night with a sacrifice fly to center, moving Locklear 90 feet across the plate.
Richmond (3-0) will look to continue its winning streak when it opens Sandhills Athletic Conference play against Southern Lee High School (1-0) on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
JV Raiders pick up second win of season
The Richmond junior varsity baseball team battled back and forth against Montgomery Central before pulling ahead to earn a 10-6 win.
Tied at six runs apiece after the first two innings, the JV Raiders scored four runs in the top of the third to secure the win. The game was called after four innings due to the time limit.
Both teams scored a run in the first, with Richmond’s coming on an RBI single from Jeremiah Ritter, scoring Riley Brown (walk).
Ritter also started on the mound and threw 2 innings and allowed 6 runs (1 earned) on 2 hits. He added 6 strikeouts. Alan Taylor also tossed 2 innings, and didn’t give up any runs or hits, while striking out 6 batters.
In the second, the JV Raiders scored five runs. Alan Taylor scored on an error, Landon Taylor had an RBI single and later scored on a wild pitch, and Mason Murray and Isaac Hinshaw both scored on the same error.
Brown put the JV Raiders ahead for good with an RBI on a fielder’s choice in the third. Landon Taylor added a 2-RBI single and Hinshaw recorded an RBI on a single to score Murray.
Landon Taylor finished with 2 hits and 3 RBIs, Ritter had 2 hits and 2 RBIs and Brown and Hinshaw both added one RBI. Murray had 2 hits, Alan Taylor had a double and Jason Walker notched a single.
“The guys did a great job of jumping ahead five runs, but I wasn’t happy with the way we allowed them to get back into the game with walks and errors,” head coach Ryan Mercer said. “Our guys also showed maturity by coming back and scoring again.
“Like I told the guys, the mistakes are fixable and we will fix them. Alan Taylor did a great job of pitching for us. It feels good to be 2-0, but we will need much cleaner play starting next week.”
The JV Raiders (2-0) will host Southern Lee on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
