ROCKINGHAM – The outcome of Friday’s senior night game looked grim for the Lady Raiders as they trotted off the field down 8-3 to rival Scotland High School in the middle of the seventh inning.
In front of a full house as seniors Brianna Baysek, Owen Bowers and Kenzie Webb were recognized before their last regular season game, and Lady Raiders magic was alive and well. It just wouldn’t show up until late in the game.
When it was all said and done, battling down to their final out, the Lady Raiders were a mass of celebrating teammates chasing freshman Payton Chappell around the infield following her first career walk-off hit to give the No. 2 4A ranked Lady Raiders a 9-8 victory to end the regular season.
It was an uncharacteristic game for the Lady Raiders through the first six and a half innings. Richmond starting pitcher Greyson Way had allowed a season-high 12 hits to the Lady Fighting Scots (9-9, 5-9 SAC), and tied the most runs given up in a game (8, Jack Britt High School) and team errors committed (3).
But it wasn’t the first time head coach Wendy Wallace’s team faced a multiple run deficit late in a home game this season. On March 23, Richmond trailed fellow Sandhillls Athletic Conference opponent Jack Britt 8-2 heading into the sixth inning. After tying the game with four runs in the seventh, junior Savannah Lampley raked a moonshot over the scoreboard in the 10th inning to win it.
Friday’s narrative was similar, only this time a perfect 14-0 SAC record was on the line. And thanks to clutch hitting and a never-say-never attitude, Richmond finished conference play undefeated for the second straight season.
Scotland’s starting pitcher BreAnna Steele shut down the Lady Raiders’ bats through the first six innings, only allowing seven hits and three runs (to a lineup that’s averaged 11.09 runs per game this season). Meanwhile, Way surrendered eight runs on 12 hits, including a two-run home run to Katie Smith in the top of the third inning.
Richmond’s largest deficit of the night was a 7-0 Lady Fighting Scots lead through four completed innings. Making a rare trip to the circle, Wallace stopped play in the middle innings to talk to her ace — which seemed to work — because Way would settle in and not allow much more damage.
Single runs in the fourth (Baysek RBI double), fifth (Lampley RBI double) and sixth innings (Taylor Parrish solo home run) cut the lead to 8-3 and gave Richmond a breath of life.
A quick top half of the seventh, in which Way struck out the side, kept the game within striking distance. She finished the night with nine strikeouts, but gave up seven earned runs.
“They never give up and they’ve got some fight and grit about them,” Wallace said of her team’s resiliency after the game. “They were mad in the bottom of the fifth inning, and I told them this is our senior night on our field, and it was time to step up. We weren’t playing typical softball for us.
“Tonight was more than a ‘given win,’” she continued. “The girls knew that no one wanted to beat them more on their senior night than Scotland. We didn’t come out flat, but we did leave a lot of base runners in the middle innings.”
But all of that would change in the home half of the seventh, as Richmond would bat through the order and collect six hits off Steele en route to walk-off glory. Lampley led off the inning with a perfectly placed bunt single, and was followed up by a Bowers full-count walk. The next at-bat is what Wallace called the “turning point” in the game, which got the bats rolling for good and the game’s momentum finally on the green and gold’s side.
Way helped her own cause at the plate as she sent a 2-1 pitch to the opposite field, a laser beam that cleared the right-center wall for her sixth home run of the season, pulling Richmond within two runs for the first time since the third inning. With the lead cut to 8-6, and no outs, the Lady Raiders still weren’t out of the dark.
No sooner did Way’s ball land that Baysek stepped up to the plate and drilled the second pitch in the next at-bat over the center field fence for back-to-back jacks and helped Richmond inch closer to Scotland’s lead, now trailing 8-7. Following the two dingers, Steele continued to struggle, as sophomore Kayla Hawkins and Parrish roped back-to-back singles to keep the scoring threat alive with two on and no outs.
Freshman Paige Ransom, who leads the team with eight home runs, and sophomore Madison Jordan both failed to score a run when each popped up for consecutive outs. But Ransom’s fly ball to right field was deep enough to advance both Hawkins and courtesy runner Jadyn Johnson into scoring position.
Chappell, who has had a successful freshman year but struck out to end the sixth inning with two base runners on, redeemed herself in the ensuing at-bat when she poked a ball to shallow left field on the first pitch she saw. Landing in no-man’s land between third baseman Macie Gibson and left fielder Mason Roberts, Hawkins sprinted home to tie the game and Wallace sent Johnson when neither fielder could cleanly corral the ball and send it home.
“I struck out the last time I was in that situation,” Chappell recalled of her sixth inning at-bat. “So, I told myself I wasn’t going to strike out and was going to get a hit. I didn’t think about it – I just hit the ball. This win gives us an advantage because our confidence is really high going into the (SAC) tournament.”
Parrish led all batters with three hits, while Baysek, Lampley and Ransom each had two. Way’s three RBIs were a game-high, and Baysek and Chappell added two apiece. With the win, Richmond finishes the regular season with an 18-3 record, and a perfect 14-0 SAC record.
“It helps a whole lot that we won tonight,” Wallace noted as the SAC tournament is just around the corner and Richmond is the No. 1 seed. “We’ll have to win three games next week to win it. It’s good for us to get back on track and stay focused and get that drive behind us. We’ve got to get back to that mentality to push every night.”
As a team, the Lady Raiders are batting .385, and have outscored SAC opponents 199-31 in 14 games. With its sixth-straight conference title under its belt, Richmond will host last-place Seventy-First High School (1-15, 0-14) during the first round of the SAC tournament on Tuesday. In a 34-1 thrashing of the Lady Falcons a week ago, Wallace’s squad set the program record for most runs in a single game.
SENIORS RECOGNIZED
SENIOR NIGHT (left to right): Assistant coach Shellie Wimpey, Bri Baysek, Owen Bowers, Kenzie Webb and head coach Wendy Wallace.
In a pregame ceremony, escorted by family members, the Richmond faithful applauded Baysek, Bowers and Webb for their contributions over the past couple of seasons. The ROSports department spoke to each senior individually after Friday’s walk-off win.
Baysek, who has played for Wallace the past three seasons at the varsity level, is batting .418 with five home runs and is tied for third on the team with 23 RBIs. She’s also been a staple in the outfield this season, roaming the territory in center field and making several big-time plays over the course of the last 21 games. Her RBI double in the fourth inning, and solo shot in the seventh, helped secure the senior night win.
“We pushed through tonight, as we always do,” Baysek said after the game. “It was really exciting and was probably the best way the night could have went. We feed off of each other – like Greyson’s home run hyped us up – and we just kept feeding the streak. I’m very proud to be a Raider and I love my folks.”
“Bri has been consistent for us and stepped up several times throughout the year,” Wallace said. “She’s the most excited and hyped up of the three seniors. She loves her team.”
Bowers, who is a Florida SouthWestern State College commit, has caught every game for the Lady Raiders since her freshman year in 2015. At the plate this year, she’s batting .317 with eight doubles, four home runs and 19 RBIs. Better yet, she’s starting to come out of a mid-season slump and is hitting the ball at the right time.
“To come from behind tonight made it more special,” Bowers said of the win. “Being a Raider for four years has been amazing. We’re so connected. This is the best team I’ve been on.”
“Owen has been amazing for us the last four years,” Wallace said of her catcher. “She’s always picking people up and keeping the team motivated in times when we need a little push from one of our leaders.”
Webb, who will be attending UNC Chapel Hill in the fall, has been crucial to Richmond’s success as solid left fielder and situational player at the plate. She best summarized her time as a Lady Raider as being a part of an eclectic group of softball players.
“Being a Raider is different than being anywhere else,” Webb explained. “It’s a title, and we represent Richmond County. Everybody knows what that means because everyone supports the Raiders. It’s being a part of something bigger than yourself.
“Tonight was a good way to go out,” she concluded.
“Kenzie has had a pivotal role in different ways the last couple seasons,” Wallace commented. “She’s a solid outfielder and she’s always positive, which will help us the rest of the year.”
