Taylor, Phifer combine to no-hit Lee County in mercy-rule win
ROCKINGHAM — It was easy going for the Richmond Renegade varsity baseball team against Lee County on Wednesday.
Collecting six hits and capitalizing on six errors, the Renegades cruised to a 13-0 win over the Spinners in five innings.
Richmond earned its second straight win and it was also the Renegades’ second mercy-rule victory in four games this summer.
Sophomore starting pitcher Allen Taylor and senior reliever Ashton Phifer combined to no-hit Lee County.
Taylor tossed 4.0 innings and registered three strikeouts, while Phifer tossed 1.0 inning and struck out one batter.
Both pitchers allowed two walks and combined to be just five over the minimum. Taylor retired the Spinners in order in the third and Phifer induced a game-ending 5-3 double play.
The combined no-hitter was the second this summer for Richmond, as Taylor and Caden Nolan no-hit Scotland in junior varsity action last week.
Richmond dotted the scoreboard with a run in the second, seven runs in the third and its final five runs in the fourth. Junior Camron Seagraves led the team with two hits, a double and a triple, and four RBIs.
With two outs in the bottom of the second, junior Zavier Lowry scored junior Jullian Cline (walk) on an error to right field.
Junior Davis Faw, who led off the third with a single, made it 2-0 with a head first slide across home plate on a wild pitch.
Walks to junior Cain Hunsucker, Taylor and Phifer loaded the bases with one away. Seagraves dug in and lasered an opposite field three-RBI triple to the right-center alley to break it open 5-0.
In the next at-bat, senior Ethan Clayton grounded out to second but recorded an RBI when Seagraves scored.
Consecutive two-out walks to juniors James Eason and Isaac Hinshaw resulted in two more runs. An error on a ground ball by sophomore Mason Murray allowed both runners to score and make it an 8-0 advantage.
Lowry (error) started the scoring in the bottom of the fourth when junior Zane Searcy hit an RBI groundout to third.
Sophomore Jason Walker joined the scoring parade when he connected on an RBI double to left, plating Faw (error). That was followed by a two-RBI single by Phifer, scoring Hunsucker (walk) and Walker.
The Renegades’ final run was courtesy of an RBI double by Seagraves to center, bringing home Phifer.
Junior Landon Taylor rounded out the six-hit performance with a single, and Phifer had two RBIs.
Richmond (3-1) will have another home game on Thursday, and welcome in Scotland at 7 p.m. In the teams’ first meeting last week, Scotland defeated Richmond 7-2.
