ROCKINGHAM — A flurry of players contributed to a five-run sixth inning Tuesday, which helped the Richmond Raider baseball team take the opening game of its two-game set against Butler High School.
Playing its only non-conference series this spring, Richmond held off a late push from the Bulldogs to earn an 11-9 win.
Junior pitcher Jude Howard took over the game with two outs in the top of the sixth and earned his first varsity win following the outpouring of run support in the home half.
Fellow junior Cameron Way shut the door with a bases-loaded strikeout against Matt Kenney to end the game, crediting him with the save.
Head coach Rob Ransom used four pitchers in the win, starting with junior Will Dawkins, who threw two innings, gave up four runs (three earned) on three hits and had two strikeouts.
Junior Harley Honeycutt impressed with 3.2 innings of work and allowed just two earned runs on two hits while punching out five Bulldogs batters.
“We struggled to throw strikes and find the plate tonight,” Ransom said. “We allowed 11 walks, but we kept scratching and swung the bat well enough in the sixth inning to overcome our pitching.
“We were fortunate to get out with a win when we allowed that many walks,” he added. “But we played good defense and limited our errors to two. We had some big hits in key spots late in the game and those runs proved timely to help us get the win.”
Junior pitcher Harley Honeycutt throws a pitch during the fourth inning of Tuesday’s game. (Kyle Pillar)
Trailing 1-0 after the top of the first, the Raiders plated three runs to take an early lead. With one out, junior Colin Wheeler collected a single to left off starter Ashton Wolfe, and an error in left allowed juniors Alston Johnson (single) and Matthew Walker (walk) to score.
Wheeler made it to third on the error and scored two pitches later when Butler caught a runner trying to steal second, allowing Wheeler to slide headfirst across the plate.
Both teams added a run in the second inning, starting with Butler scoring on a Richmond error.
To lead off the home half of the second, senior Hunter Hancock roped a double to left and later scored when Johnson singled on a chopper to short, the second of his game-high three hits. After two complete, Richmond led 4-2.
Senior Hunter Hancock takes a lead following his double in the second inning. (Kyle Pillar)
The Bulldogs (3-8) would add three runs in the top of the third and another in the top of the fifth to jump ahead 6-4. Senior right fielder Michael Pettitt started an inning-ending double play in the third by catching a fly ball and throwing home to Wheeler to catch Dylan Jones trying to tag.
Richmond responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth. With one out and Way on first, Walker beat an infield single to third. The throw skipped down the right-field line, allowing Way to score and Walker to move to second.
Two at-bats later, freshman Camron Seagraves lifted a low liner to shallow center for an RBI single, plating Walker.
In the bottom of the sixth, Ole Swenson replaced Wolfe on the mound and walked the first three Raider batters to load the bases. Tucker Simpson relieved Swenson and gave up an RBI single to Johnson on his first pitch, scoring Hancock (walk).
A carousel of throwing errors on the same play allowed sophomore Ethan Clayton (walk) and junior Caleb Talton (walk) to score, and Johnson slid into third with no outs. In the next at-bat, Way brought in Johnson on a sacrifice fly to center.
“We were tied when I came up in the sixth, so I really wanted to get at least one RBI to break it,” Johnson explained. “I managed to hit a little blooper off the end of my hands for a single and then the errors moved us to where we could get some momentum going. This was a big win for us.”
Junior Alston Johnson (9) crosses home plate in Tuesday’s win over Butler. (Kyle Pillar)
A one-out double by Walker put another runner in scoring position, which set up junior David O’Neal for a pinch hit RBI single to score the team’s final run. Swinging at Simpson’s first offering, O’Neal ripped the ball to right field, scoring Walker to make it an 11-6 lead.
Butler managed to score three more runs in the top of the seventh before Way recorded Richmond’s eighth and final strikeout of the game.
O’Neal also made a good defensive play at third, fielding a ground ball and throwing to Wheeler at the plate for a force out with the bases loaded for the second out.
“All the pressure was on me and I knew I had to perform when Coach Ransom put me in,” O’Neal said. “I tried to make the best of it and bring my teammates around for another run. It turned out to be a big run, and in the end it helped us get the win.
“I knew I had to protect a run from scoring (in the seventh), so we played in,” he added. “That was a big play to keep our lead intact.”
Richmond collected nine hits in the win, three coming from Johnson and two from Walker. Hancock, O’Neal, Seagraves and Wheeler accounted for the other four and both Hancock and Walker had a double.
The Raiders drew eight base on balls from the Bulldogs’ pitchers, and Walker and Johnson combined to score five of Richmond’s runs. Johnson’s 3-for-4 effort resulted in a game-high two RBIs.
Junior David O’Neal fist bumps Coach Ralph Butler following his pinch hit RBI single in the sixth. (Kyle Pillar)
“We were able to take advantage of some errors (Butler) made that gave us some distance later in the game,” Ransom said. “David came up with a big hit at the end that proved to be a much bigger run.
“We just have to be able to go back to the mound in the seventh and make teams hit the ball,” he closed. “Walking guys with a five-run lead is something we can’t do. Cameron (Way) threw strikes to close the door.”
Richmond improved to 5-6 on the season and will travel to Butler on Thursday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
