GARNER, N.C. — Looking at the scoreboard following the top of the fifth inning during Tuesday’s playoff game, Richmond head coach Mike Way knew the Lady Raiders were “in it.”
Trailing by four runs to the top-seeded team in the NCHSAA 4A East state playoffs, No. 32 Richmond made a valiant effort to upset No. 1 Garner Magnet High School.
Unfortunately for Richmond, the bid to topple the Lady Trojans in the opening round ended in a 13-3 loss in six innings.
“We were in it in the fifth inning,” Way shared. “But it just came down to us not being able to put it together enough to score more runs.
“(Garner) was a solid team, but nothing overwhelming,” he added. “We gave them a few runs early and that didn’t help us.”
The Lady Trojans (21-1) scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning and added two more in the home half of the second to jump ahead 7-0.
Pitching a complete game for Richmond was junior Maddie Pearson. All of her runs were earned and she allowed 15 hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
Garner used an RBI double, a three-run inside-the-park home run and an RBI single to take the lead in the first. An inning later, runs were scored on a single and a triple.
All of Richmond’s runs came in the top of the fourth inning as the lineup made the turn against starting pitcher Gabriella Czuczuk (six innings, five hits, three runs) and faced her for the second time.
Freshman Emma Rusich and senior Ryelan Lyerly got Richmond’s first two hits of the game, both singles, to start the top of the fourth. Senior Christi Jacobs delivered with a line drive single with two outs to load the bases.
Junior Mikayla English dug in and barreled up the second offering from Czuczuk to the gap in right-center field for a three-RBI, bases-clearing double.
A two-run homer in the bottom half extended Garner’s lead to 9-3.
Senior Katie Way recorded Richmond’s final hit of the game, a one-out line drive single the opposite way to right field in the fifth.
She was left stranded, as was Jacobs (walk) an inning later, the final base runner for the Lady Raiders.
The Lady Trojans ended the game early with their final four runs in the bottom of the sixth. Those runs were scored on a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly.
The No. 32 Lady Raiders’ season came to a close with a 7-12 overall record. Richmond tallied a 5-7 mark in the Sandhills Athletic Conference which put the team fifth overall.
The Lady Raiders were, however, the top-ranked 4A school in the SAC ahead of Hoke County and Pinecrest high schools.
Tuesday’s loss was the final high school game for seniors Kady Harris, Addyson Hollingsworth, Caroline Hunsucker, Lyerly and Way.
The Richmond Observer will publish the All-Conference team and any other accolades once they’re made available.
