ROCKINGHAM — Looking to make it out of the first round of the Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament Tuesday after taking an early exit last season was the Richmond Senior High School baseball team.
The No. 2 Raiders played host to No. 7 Lumberton High School, and they crossed their first opponent off the list, sinking the Pirates 14-4 in five innings.
Richmond made the three-game season sweep of Lumberton behind a solid outing from senior starting pitcher Cameron Carraway, who earned his fourth win of the season.
Earlier in the regular season, Carraway threw a complete game shutout against the Pirates, as his performance Tuesday saw him go just three innings. He held Lumberton to four runs (three unearned) on three hits and struck out three batters.
But it was Carraway’s swinging of the bat that helped the Raiders mercy rule the Pirates, as the Wingate University commit went 3-for-4 with a pair of extra base hits and a game-high five runs batted in.
Joining him with multiple RBIs was senior second baseman Brett Young, who went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs. And junior Will Chappell, who made just his third plate appearance of the season, raked a bases-clearing three-RBI double to the left-center ally to walk off the game and end the Pirates’ season.
“We did a much better job tonight when we got runners in scoring position,” head coach Ricky Young said. “When we had them on, we were able to bring them in. That was the difference.
“Our last few games we were in a funk where we had guys in scoring position, but couldn’t bring them in,” he added. “It sounds simple, but that’s what worked for us tonight.”
The Raiders scored two runs in each of the first two innings, before exploding for five runs in the bottom of the third and fifth innings. They connected on three hits and racked up six runs against starting pitcher Parks Ledwell.
Senior Jake Ransom slapped an RBI single to right field to score senior Tyler Bass (leadoff walk) to start the first, and was brought home an at-bat later thanks to a Carraway double to the left field corner.
Lumberton’s Seth Odum had an RBI single in the top of the second, and the Pirates tied the game at two thanks to a Richmond error, allowing Odum to score.
With two outs and runners on first and second in the home half of the second, Young hit a ground ball to short and reached safely on an error by the third baseman who dropped the ball on the attempted force out. The rolling ball allowed junior Dallas Cowick (walk) to race home and give Richmond a lead it wouldn’t surrender.
Carraway dug in two at-bats later and beat out an infield single deep in the six hole, allowing Bass (walk) to score and make it 4-2.
After a one-two-three top of the third by Carraway on the hill, Young ripped a two-RBI single up the middle off new pitcher Hayden Hunt to extend Richmond’s lead. With the bases loaded, Carraway capped his big game with a standup triple to the left-center gap, scoring Bass, Young and Ransom.
Up 9-2, Coach Ricky Young replaced Carraway with junior lefty Luke Preslar in the top of the fourth with two on and no outs. Another error, coupled with a dropped third strike, let Lumberton score its final two runs of the game.
Preslar settled in and went the remaining two innings, giving up just one hit and striking out four batters.
“The pitch count rule makes you think about things,” Coach Young explained. “We had a big enough lead and Cam’s pitch count was where he could throw again after two days, so he can throw again Friday if we’re fortunate enough to make it that far.
“We have a lot of confidence in Luke,” he added. “He hadn’t thrown in a while so it was a good opportunity to get him some more innings. Both guys threw really well.”
Brett Young would rope an RBI single in the fifth and later score to make it an 11-4 ball game, and with two outs, Chappell ended the game with his gap shot.
Richmond (18-7) will look to continue its run through the SAC tournament Wednesday, when it hosts No. 6 Hoke County High School (8-13). The Bucks upset No. 3 Jack Britt High School 5-4 in the opening round. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
