ROCKINGHAM – The spring 2018 regular seasons for the Richmond Senior High School baseball, softball and soccer team are in the books. And with it, comes the hunt for a conference tournament championship.
All three teams finished in the top three in their respective Sandhills Athletic Conference standings, with the softball team (18-3, 14-0 SAC) taking the top spot thanks to an undefeated conference record. The baseball (17-6, 9-5 SAC) and soccer (15-4, 11-3 SAC) teams finished in third place, as both were just three games behind Pinecrest High School, which took the regular season title in each sport.
As the student-athletes and coaches ramp up for postseason play, all three teams will host opening-round games early this week on their way to the state playoffs. Below is a breakdown of each team’s first opponent, and projected second round matchups.
NO. 3 LADY RAIDERS SOCCER TO HOST NO. 6 HOKE COUNTY
After tying with Jack Britt High School for second place at the end of the regular season, the SAC tournament seedings were determined by a coin flip on Friday. Head coach Bennie Howard’s team took the No. 3 seed following losing the toss, and he joked that he never has any luck with winning a toss.
The third meeting between the Lady Raiders and Lady Bucks (4-16-2, 3-9-2 SAC) will take place Tuesday at 7 p.m. In both regular season matchups, Richmond dominated Hoke County, outscoring the Raeford team 9-2. In the first match on March 14, a 6-1 road win for the Lady Raiders, senior striker Hanna Millen netted a hat trick, while sophomore defender Avy Lucero roped two goals of her own.
The second meeting on April 16 wasn’t as high scoring, but two goals by junior striker Morgan Hooks lifted the Lady Raiders to a 3-1 win. That win was the first in a string of five-straight victories to close out the regular season.
Howard noted that he anticipates his team to complete the season sweep of the Lady Bucks Tuesday, which means Richmond will be head to No. 2 Jack Britt in the second round, if the Lady Buccaneers defeat No. 7 Scotland High School (2-13-3, 2-10-2). A physical matchup with several yellow cards through the first two meetings this season, Howard said his team “would rather beat them at their place to make it really special” in the rubber match.
NO. 3 RAIDERS BASEBALL TO WELCOME NO. 6 PURNELL SWETT
Richmond’s 12-game winning streak was snapped at the hands of rival No. 5 Scotland High School (14-9, 8-6 SAC) Friday on senior night. The streak, which started at the end of March, saw Richmond go from fifth place in the SAC all the way up to third, and included big sweeps of Lumberton and Seventy-First high schools. Richmond will host the Rams at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The Raiders haven’t seen action against the Rams (9-14, 6-8 SAC) since the second week of the season, when they earned two victories to start the season 4-0. The first game of the home-and-home series on March 6 was a 6-4 Richmond win, and senior pitcher Trey Watkins not only earned the win, but also went 2-for-2 at the plate with two doubles and two RBIs.
On the road three nights later on March 9, the Raiders scored a run in the top of the seventh inning (a Tyler Bass sacrifice bunt) to knot the game at six and force extra innings. Both teams would battle through four more frames in an 11-inning affair, Richmond’s longest game of the season, before the Raiders came out on top 9-8 thanks to a three-run top of the 11th and a Jonathan Lee two-RBI single and a Rams error on a Drew Loving ground ball.
If head coach Ricky Young’s team were to defeat the Rams, the Raiders would most likely (barring any upsets) face No. 2 seed Jack Britt (13-8, 10-4 SAC), but could also play Lumberton at home if Jack Britt loses. Richmond lost both regular season games to the Buccaneers, getting outscored 10-4 and being shutout in the second game at home. Following Friday’s loss to Scotland, Young explained that his team needs to “get back to the fundamentals” that allowed the Raiders to go on their 12-game winning streak.
TOP RANKED LADY RAIDERS SOFTBALL TEAM LOOKS TO SWEEP COMPETITION
After finishing the regular season with an epic six-run seventh inning to rally past rival Scotland (9-9, 5-9 SAC) 9-8 on senior night Friday, the Lady Raiders finished conference play undefeated for the second straight season. However, it’s looking to redeem itself with an SAC tournament win after falling to Morgan Britt and Lumberton High School in last year’s championship game.
Set to host last place and No. 8 ranked Seventy-First Tuesday at 7 p.m., the Lady Raiders dominated the Lady Falcons in the two regular season matchups just two weeks ago. Richmond nabbed a share of the regular season title with a 17-0 win on April 17, behind a four RBI night by junior Taylor Parrish. Senior Brianna Baysek and sophomore Kayla Hawkins each had three RBIs, and Hawkins blasted a three-run shot.
Later in the week in Fayetteville, head coach Wendy Wallace’s team won its sixth straight conference title and broke four major school records on the way to a 34-1 victory. In a game that lasted only four innings (called early by Seventy-First), Richmond set program records for: the most runs in a game (34), most RBIs in a game (28), most players to score multiple runs (9) and most players with a double (6). Juniors Savannah Lampley and Greyson Way each had four hits, and senior Owen Bowers tallied a season-high six RBIs.
While the Lady Falcons (1-15, 0-14 SAC) may not pose the biggest threat to upset the Lady Raiders, Wallace explained after Friday’s win that her team needs to continue to look forward and “stay focused and get the mentality to push every night.” With a win, Wallace said Richmond is expected to play the winner of the Hoke County/Lumberton game.
