ROCKINGHAM — It may have taken them three tries, but the Lady Raiders defeated Hoke County High School when it mattered most during Tuesday’s second round of the Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament.
A night after earning a mercy-rule win, No. 2 Richmond punched its ticket to return to the SAC championship with a 2-0 win over No. 3 Hoke County.
After falling to the Lady Bucks in both regular-season meetings, the Lady Raiders connected for a pair of early home runs to eliminate Hoke County.
The win also secured Richmond as the top 4A seed in the final conference standings. Through two games in the tournament, the Lady Raiders have hit six home runs.
In what turned out to be a pitchers’ duel between Richmond’s Quston Leviner and Hoke County’s Tamarah Lowery, each team only collected two hits in the game. To Richmond’s benefit, both cleared the outfield fence.
Leviner threw a complete game shutout, her fourth of the season, and struck out nine batters in the process. She allowed just four total base runners on two hits and two walks.
Junior pitcher Quston Leviner (10) celebrates with teammates after one of her nine strikeouts. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
Lowery kept the Lady Bucks (15-11, 8-5 SAC) in contention, giving up two hits and striking out a game-high 11 batters. Richmond also drew two walks and had a runner reach on an error.
Senior Allyiah Swiney kept her home run swing handy, leading off the home half of the first with a solo shot to left field. It was her third longball of the season and her second in as many nights for Richmond.
Adding an insurance run with two outs in the same inning was sophomore Katie Way. Belting a 2-0 offering from Lowery, Way sent a solo blast to left field for her first homer of the spring.
From that point on, both pitchers controlled the game’s tempo. Leviner struck out the side in order in the top of the second inning, and also sat the Lady Bucks down in order in the third, fourth and fifth frames.
A 6-3 double play on a grounder to Swiney at short, then onto junior Makayla Parks at first, ended the fourth.
Leviner’s biggest pitch of the game came in the top of the sixth inning, striking out Nina Cummings with the bases loaded.
Way and senior Kenleigh Frye drew a base on balls in the win, and sophomore Ryelan Lyerly reached base safely in the bottom of the fifth.
Senior Allyiah Swiney is swarmed by teammates after her solo homer in the first. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
The Lady Raiders (14-4, 11-3 SAC) will play for the SAC tournament championship on Thursday against the winner of No. 1 Scotland (19-4, 12-1 SAC) and No. 5 Pinecrest (8-12, 5-7 SAC). That game was postponed until Wednesday due to weather.
The championship game is set for 7 p.m. and will be played at the higher-seeded team’s home field.
The last time the Lady Raiders made the SAC championship was 2019, also the most recent season to have a conference tournament due to the pandemic. During that game, Richmond defeated former conference foe Lumberton 10-0 in five innings.
