Home Local Sports Ransom, Richardson belt late-game doubles to hand Terry Sanford first loss

Ransom, Richardson belt late-game doubles to hand Terry Sanford first loss

Jake Ransom (24) celebrates after hitting the go-ahead RBI double in the seventh inning during Wednesday's win.
Shawn Weigman — The Richmond Observer.

FAYETTEVILLE — Wednesday’s non-conference baseball showdown between the Richmond Raiders and Terry Sanford Bulldogs had a lot on the line.

Entering the night, Richmond was riding a four-game winning streak, and Terry Sanford was looking to stay perfect on the season through eight games.

And it was a solid start by Richmond’s sidearm hurler Evan Hudson, coupled with two clutch run-scoring doubles by fellow seniors Garret Richardson and Jake Ransom that would extend the Raiders’ streak on the road.

In a ball game that saw the first five innings pass with no runs scored by either club, Richmond would use two runs in the sixth, and another in the seventh, to earn a 3-2 victory. With the win, the Raiders improved to 9-3 on the season.

“We always have great games with Terry Sanford, and Sam (Guy) and I have been friends a long time,” Richmond head coach Ricky Young said of the matchup. “Just about every year it’s a one-run, low-scoring game. They’re a really good program that pitches the ball really well and plays really good defense.

“It’s a really big win for us,” he added. “(Terry Sanford) was 7-0, and I’m really proud of the guys for gutting it out till the end.”

In six of the last seven games between the two teams, the winning team has won by just one run. During that span dating back to Feb. 28, 2014, the Raiders have won five of those contests.

Both teams started the game with equal opportunities to score runs, but stranded a handful of runners in scoring position to keep the game scoreless. The Raiders left a man on third base in the first and second innings, before leaving a runner on second in the third and fourth frames.

Terry Sanford had runners reach second base safely in each of the first two innings, and managed to have runners on base in the third and fourth as well, but couldn’t bring them home.

A pitcher’s duel between Hudson and Bulldogs’ lefty Tommy Cooney saw just seven hits dispersed between both teams (four by Richmond) in the first five innings.

The Raider defense got Hudson out of a jam in the bottom of the fourth inning, starting with a 4-3 double play. Cooney hit a Hudson offering off the end of his bat to shallow right field, which was caught by second baseman Brett Young, who turned and fired the ball to Ransom at first to pickoff Marcus Sanchez.

Hudson helped his cause two batters later when he scooped up a Dorian Clark bunt up the third base line and threw it to Young at second. Jack Cooney, who reached safely, overran the bag, and was tagged out by Young.

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The Raiders finally broke into the scoring column in the top of the sixth inning, starting with a one-out Cameron Carraway walk, followed by a Garet Weigman single to left field. With two on, Richardson dug in and sent a laser to the left-center gap for a 2-RBI double. Carraway raced home from second, with courtesy runner Jahan Jones on his heels.

That would be it for Cooney, who pitched 5 1/3 innings, and gave up two earned runs on six hits.

Left-hander Cruise Herz would end the threat a couple batters later when Cameron Humphrey made an unassisted double play by catching a Nolan Allen soft liner to first, while simultaneously falling on the bag to tag out courtesy runner Austin Talton.

But the Bulldogs wouldn’t go away quietly, capitalizing in their half of the inning on an error and an RBI double. Following a 6-4-3 double play, Tommy Cooney hit a liner back to Hudson, which hit his glove and allowed Justin Ebert (error) to score from third.

After Coach Young replaced Hudson on the mound with Tyler Bass, Clark followed with an RBI double to center field, scoring Tommy Cooney. Jack Cooney, the potential go-ahead run, slipped rounding third base and failed to score. Bass got Graham West to ground out back to the mound to end the threat.

With the game knotted at two runs apiece, junior Dallas Cowick led off the top of the seventh with a walk. Bass laid down a successful sacrifice bunt against new pitcher Justin Ebert to put him in scoring position.

Following an out, Ransom dug in and blasted a 3-2 offering from Ebert high to deep center field. The ball sailed to the deepest part of the park and banged off the wall a couple of feet short of a home run, but it was enough to score Cowick for the eventual game-winning run.

Hudson didn’t earn the win, but went 5 2/3 innings, allowing just two unearned runs on three hits, while striking out four batters. Bass chipped in the final 1 1/3 innings and got his second win of the spring.

Bass and Richardson both knocked a game-high two hits, with Richardson’s two RBIs being a game-high. Also collecting hits for the Raiders were Allen, Hudson, Ransom and Weigman.

“Evan threw the ball really well,” Young noted. “The last couple times out he’s struggled because he’s kept the ball up in the zone. He needed to keep it down to be effective and moved the ball around really well.

“Garret’s 2-run double was huge for us at that point in the game,” he concluded. “Jake’s hit was big as well. Tyler came in during a pressure situation to help us out.”

The Raiders will return to action Friday when they travel to Hoke County High School and look to take the regular-season sweep against the Bucks. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. in Raeford.



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Kyle Pillar is a 22-time North Carolina Press Association award-winning sports editor with The Richmond Observer. Follow the sports department on X @ROSports_ for the best in-depth coverage of Richmond County sports.