ROCKINGHAM – On Thursday evening, Richmond Senior High School varsity baseball pitcher Cameron Carraway hit Purnell Swett’s Jaycarton Oxendine with a pitch in the third inning of game two of the series between the Raiders and the Rams.
Oxendine would later come home on a sacrifice fly by teammate Jonathan Jacobs ending a 19-inning scoreless streak for Purnell Swett. Unfortunately for the Rams, that was a very small blemish on an otherwise strong night on the mound for Carraway, as he helped the Raiders earn a 4-2 victory to sweep the series.
With the back-to-back victories over Swett, the Raiders improve to 3-2 and sit atop of the SAC standings with a 2-0 record. It’s the second season in a row that Richmond has swept Purnell Swett in the regular season meetings.
Richmond’s 14-0 drubbing in the conference opener the day before marked the first mercy-rule game in the series since the Raiders defeated the Rams 11-0 in 2011. It was also the worst margin of defeat in a shutout loss for Purnell Swett since 2009, which was the last season that the Raiders and Rams did not share a conference.
Thursday’s 4-2 outcome was a little more in line with what fans of the programs expect from this series.
Early on, it appeared as though the Raiders were carrying over the momentum from the previous day’s shutout. Tyler Bass, who was unable to record a hit in the first meeting, sent a 3-2 pitch into left field for a leadoff single in the bottom of the first.
Bass went on to steal second and third before coming home on a passed ball to give the Raiders and early 1-0 advantage.
Moments later, Carraway helped his own cause by plating Jake Ransom with an RBI single to extend Richmond’s first-inning lead to 2-0.
That was all of the scoring until Oxendine tagged home plate in the top of the third to put Swett (1-4, 0-2 SAC) on the scoreboard.
The Raiders answered in the bottom of the inning. Garet Weigman recorded the first of his two doubles on the night when he ripped one deep into left field. Hunter Parris followed with a fly ball to the centerfielder, allowing Weigman to tag up and sprint to third.
Evan Hudson brought Weigman home with a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt restoring Richmond’s two-run advantage.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Brett Young blasted a 2-2 pitch into right field for a two-out single. Young used his speed and took advantage of a couple of Purnell Swett miscues to circle the bases and score Richmond’s final run of the game.
Swett tacked on one more in the top of the seventh, but Bass, who took over for Carraway on the mound in the final inning, recorded three strikeouts to end the Ram threat.
Carraway earned his first win of the season pitching six complete innings, allowing only one run on three hits and striking out eight batters. Carraway and Hudson each recorded an RBI. Weigman was the only Raider to record two hits in the victory.
The Raiders return to the diamond on Tuesday, March 12, when they travel to Pinecrest High School to take on a very tough Patriot team.
