ROCKINGHAM – A little rain didn’t deter the Richmond Rattlers baseball team from completing its two-game sweep of the Pinecrest Pines Wednesday night in Raider Stadium.
The Rattlers scored 10 or more runs for the second consecutive night, this time blasting the Pines in a 13-3 rout in five innings. Through the first two games of the Central Carolina Scholastic Summer League prior to facing Pinecrest, Richmond had only managed to score two total runs, both games resulting in a loss.
The difference for head coach Ricky Young is a combination of several components: nearly his entire roster was present for both games against the Pines, and the Rattlers’ hitting and pitching have been nearly immaculate.
Richmond fell behind early, allowing the Pines to plate one run in the top of the first. But the Rattlers bit back in the home half of the first, scoring three runs, the first of three straight innings of bring home three runs safely.
Rising senior Alex Anderson, who was playing in his second game this season, led off the bottom of the first with a single and stole second base to put a runner in scoring position early. Fellow rising senior Brett Young, who was coming off a two-hit, two-RBI night Tuesday, didn’t waste any time by driving in the Rattlers’ first run with a gap-shot double to score Anderson.
Young would race to third on a wild pitch, followed by back-to-back walks by rising seniors Jake Ransom and Cameron Carraway to load the bases. Rising senior Garret Richardson was plunked in the next at-bat, allowing Young to score, and Ransom finished the inning’s scoring when he raced home on a wild pitch.
In the bottom of the second inning, the Rattlers kept their feet on the gas, adding three more runs. Rising senior pitcher Evan Hudson, who was on the hill Wednesday, drew a leadoff walk and was replaced with courtesy runner Jahan Jones. Rising junior catcher Blake Hall laid down a successful sacrifice bunt to move Jones to second, and Young reached for the second time on the night when he was hit by a pitch.
With two on and one out, Ransom delivered with a long single down the left field line, collecting two more RBIs this season by scoring Jones and Young. After two wild pitches moved Ransom to third base, his fellow Powerade State Games teammate Carraway smacked an RBI single to make the game 6-1.
Pinecrest scored two runs in the top of the third, but Richmond wasn’t done, as it completed its trio of three-run innings in the bottom half. After the Pines got two quick outs, the Rattlers rallied, starting with Hudson dropping in a single. Jones ran for him again, and would come home later in the inning on another Pinecrest wild pitch. The other two runs in the third came courtesy of a Young two-RBI double, scoring rising junior Austin Talton (courtesy runner for Hall) and Anderson, both of whom reached on walks.
The Rattlers would cap off the mercy-rule win by plating four more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Chris Austin (walk) and Luke Preslar (single) led off the inning before Pinecrest recorded two outs. But a walk to rising senior Logan Moore to load the bases led to two more consecutive walks to Anderson and Young, allowing Austin and Preslar to score, respectively. Ransom ended the game with his second two-RBI single of the night, giving Richmond its second win in as many nights.
“I thought we hit ball really well up and down the entire lineup,” Coach Young said following the game. “That’s been our best thing the last two nights — when we’ve gotten runners in scoring position, we’ve been able to come up with some big hits. We haven’t had to rely on the other team making errors. The guys are driving balls into the gaps, which is a big positive.”
Hudson started the game on the mound for the Rattlers, allowing just three runs and picking up the win. Coming in for relief to close out the game in the fifth inning was fellow rising senior pitcher Tyler Bass.
“Both of those guys threw strikes tonight, which is something I’ve said will keep us in games,” Young noted.  “We’ll be pitching by committee this year (in high school ball), so our pitchers will get their chance, and the focus is to throw strikes. We know we have a solid defense, so they need to go out there and allow the defense to make plays.”
Now that the Rattlers are four games into their 15-game summer season, Young reflected back on where the team is compared to where he set his expectations.
“We’re kind of where I figured we’d be at this point,” Young said. “I feel like we’re seeing the ball and swinging the bats well. And our defense is playing well, too. The thing that determines games is how well we pitch — if we throw strikes, like we did the last two nights, and don’t allow extra base runners, we have a chance to be pretty good.”
In the junior team’s game, the Rattlers also defeated the Pines, holding on to win 6-4.
Richmond will take a short hiatus before playing its next game. The Rattlers will travel to Scotland High School Tuesday, June 26, for the first of three straight games against the Fighting Scots’ summer league team. Tuesday’s action will start with the junior team at 5 p.m., followed by the senior team at 7:15 p.m.
