SANFORD — A marathon game ended in celebration for the Richmond Senior High School baseball team Tuesday.
Playing its longest game of the season to date, the Raiders took the first of two games this week against Lee County High School.
Erasing a one-run deficit to tie the score in the top of the seventh inning, the Raiders later won 3-1 in 10 innings.
Freshman right-hander Devin Haynes started on the mound and stayed in the game until he reached his pitch limit. He threw 7.1 innings and struck out 10 batters, while allowing just one unearned run on two hits.
Earning the win in relief was senior Jeremiah Ritter, who tossed the final 2.2 innings and preserved the two-run lead in the bottom of the 10th. Ritter struck out six batters, allowed one hit and ended the game with the potential winning run at the plate.
Haynes went pitch-for-pitch with Lee County’s starting pitcher Gavin Swann, who threw eight innings and allowed just one earned run on four hits and seven strikeouts.
Suffering the loss was Drew Stanfield, who surrendered two earned runs on three hits in two innings of work.
The Yellow Jackets broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth inning when Swann reached safely on a fielding error, one of four by the Raiders in the game. The miscue allowed Landon Miles to score from second base (double) and make it 1-0.
With just three outs to work with in the top of the seventh, juniors Evan Hodges (walk) and Caden Nolan (double) led off the inning and got into scoring position.
Digging in during the next at-bat was sophomore Collin Hill, who tied the game when he smoked a line drive single the opposite way to left-center field to score Hodges. Trying to score from second was Nolan, but he was tagged out on the relay.
Haynes stranded a one-out single in the home half of the seventh with a strikeout and groundout to send the game to extras.
A quick eighth inning by both teams saw Richmond get two runners on base with one out in the ninth. Hodges led off with a double and Hill drew a free pass, but back-to-back strikeouts left both runners on base.
Ritter struck out the side in order in the bottom of the ninth, setting up Richmond’s rally in the final frame. One out singles by junior Jake Veach and senior Jabari Douglas, his team-high second hit, got the inning started.
On the first pitch to senior Landon Taylor in the next at-bat, Veach took a large secondary lead and the catcher tried to pick him off. Taking off for third base, an errant throw from the second baseman allowed Veach to pop up and race home for the eventual game-winning run.
Douglas moved to third on the same sequence and adding an insurance run, Taylor doubled to the alley in right-center field to make it 3-1.
With the two-run lead, Ritter started the bottom of the 10th by striking out two of the first three batters, while one reached on an error. A single by Stanfield put runners on first and second, but a fielder’s choice groundout to Douglas at third ended the threat.
Taylor, Nolan and Hodges each had a double in the win, while Douglas had two singles. Rounding out Richmond’s seven total hits were Hill and Veach, each with a base knock.
The Raiders (9-6, 6-3 SAC) will return home Friday and host the Yellow Jackets (7-6, 4-3 SAC) for the series finale. Action is slated for 7 p.m.
Sports editor’s note: Statistics and game information provided by Richmond’s Game Changer.
