ROCKINGHAM — It was an unfortunate deja vu for the Richmond Rattlers’ varsity baseball team on Thursday, as it saw its late-game rally come up just short to the Lee County Spinners.
Back on the diamond for the third night in a row, and playing Lee County for the second time this summer, the Rattlers got in an early hole before storming back to make things interesting. With Richmond charging in the bottom of the seventh, the final out was recorded before the comeback was complete, seeing the Spinners earn a 13-11 win.
The high-scoring affair saw the two teams combine for 25 hits, 13 of which came from the Rattlers. Rising sophomore Alston Johnson had a team-high three hits (all singles) for Richmond, and reached base during all four at-bats.
Rising senior Dallas Cowick notched a pair of singles, while rising junior Tony Gathings was the only other Rattler to pick up two hits (a single and a bunt single).
Getting his first start of the summer was rising sophomore JD Lampley, who gave up six runs in 1.1 innings of work. Lee County used two doubles, two errors and a single to take a 6-0 lead before Lampley was replaced by fellow sophomore Cameron Way.
After the Spinners scored four runs in the first, the Rattlers responded with three of their own in the home half. Cowick led off with a single and would later score on a Luke Preslar sac fly to left field.
Way reached on a base on balls and scored from third when rising sophomore catcher Colin Wheeler smoked a double to the right-field wall. Wheeler later scored thanks to an infield RBI single from rising junior Michael Pettitt.
Three runs in the second and four runs in the third by Lee County opened the score up to 11-3. Way pitched 2.2 innings of relief, giving up five runs on five hits. Head coach Ricky Young made his third and final pitching change at the start of the fifth inning, sending in Pettitt.
Pettitt went the rest of the way, surrendering just two runs on four hits through three innings. He got some help defensively in the top of the seventh, seeing rising senior right fielder Will Chappell make a diving grab to take away a base hit and save a run.
The Rattlers’ bats went quiet in the second and third innings, but Richmond would add three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings. Base hits by Johnson and Gathings put runners on first and second with one out in the fourth, and Cowick came through with the team’s third-straight hit to load the bases.
Following a strikeout, Lampley sent a high chopper to second base and beat out an infield single to score Johnson. On the same play, Gathings raced around third and forced a throwing error by the second baseman, which allowed Cowick to clear the bases and score.
An inning later, rising senior Blake Hall led off with a bunt single and later scored with two outs thanks to an RBI rip by rising sophomore Harley Honeycutt. Johnson extended the inning by reaching on an error at third, allowing rising junior Jaheim Harrington (batting for Gathings) to slap an RBI single to center.
The ball rolled under the center fielder’s glove, giving Johnson enough time to follow Honeycutt safely to home plate.
Down to their final three outs and trailing 13-9, Hall (hit-by-pitch) would close the gap when Johnson hit an RBI single to left. A passed ball let Chappell score, but a strikeout with the bases loaded ended the game.
Now 1-2 on the season, the Rattlers will return to action on Tuesday at Union Pines High School. The game is set for a 6:30 p.m. start.
