ROCKINGHAM — Unable to catch up after a slow start Tuesday, the Richmond Senior High School softball team lost its meeting with Hoke County.
Dropping their fifth game in six contests this season, the Lady Raiders came up short 10-2 to the Lady Bucks.
Hoke County plated nine runs through the first three innings, scoring three in the first, four in the second and two more runs in the third.
Senior pitcher Madelynn Pearson pitched 1.1 innings in the loss, surrendering six earned runs on six hits. Freshman Mackenzie Quick tossed 5.2 innings of relief and gave up four runs (two earned) on five hits with five strikeouts.
Getting the Lady Raiders on the board in the home half of the third to make it an eight-run deficit was junior Kinsie Lyerly.
Moving up in the box to adjust to starting pitcher Niya Jones (7.0 IP, 3 hits, 12 Ks), Lyerly powered a missile over the wall in straightaway left field for her first career varsity home run. The solo shot with one out made it 9-1.
Both teams traded zeroes in the fourth and fifth frames before Richmond plated its final run in the home half of the sixth.
Quick helped her cause in the circle with an RBI single back up the middle, which scored junior courtesy runner Olivia Brown from third, who was running for Lyerly (error).
Hoke County (6-1, 2-1 SAC) scored its final run in the seventh on a solo homer by Brianna Harrell, her second longball of the game.
Richmond had three hits in the loss, one each from Lyerly, Quick and senior Jakayla Steele (single).
The Lady Raiders (1-5, 1-2 SAC) will try to get back in the win column with a home game Friday against conference foe Union Pines High School (1-5, 1-1 SAC). The game will start at 7 p.m.
The Richmond junior varsity softball team won its game 6-1 over Hoke County. Read more here.
Sports editor’s note: Statistics and game information provided by Richmond’s Game Changer.
