ROCKINGHAM — Everything came together at the right time for the Richmond Senior High School softball team Monday.
Ending a four-game skid to start the season, the Lady Raiders put together a complete game at the plate and in the field to earn their first win of the season.
In its first of three games this week, Richmond welcomed non-conference Montgomery Central High School and defeated the Lady Timberwolves 5-2.
Using the longball and finding the outfield gaps, the Lady Raiders relied on the bats of seniors Kinsie Lyerly and Hayden Robinson to combine for four hits (all for extra bases) and four runs batted in.
Making her first start in the circle this season, sophomore Madison Hancock pitched a complete game. She limited the Lady Timberwolves to two earned runs on eight hits and struck out five batters in the process.
“The girls have been resilient and this was the game we’ve been waiting to have,” head coach Caroline Wilson said. “We haven’t had the start to the season we wanted, but tonight was a glimpse of how well we can play when we do all the small things and play the game the right way.
“Hayden and Kinsie are our two seniors this year and they have shouldered a lot of the weight so far,” she added. “I’m so happy that both of them had a big night at the plate, and that really set the tempo for us. Madi did a great job pitching and gave us a chance to put up runs.”
After Hancock faced just four batters in the first inning, Robinson gave the Lady Raiders an early lead. With two gone in the bottom of the first, she lasered her team-leading third home run of the season over the fence in left field to make it 1-0.
Working from the circle and relying on her defense, Hancock stranded a one-out double in the second and a leadoff single in the third, facing four batters both times.
Richmond’s breakout inning came in the third, which resulted in its final four runs to extend the lead to 5-0.
Junior Emma Rusich (walk) and Hancock (error) reached safely to start the inning. Digging in with two on was Robinson, who capped her big night with an RBI double to the alley in left-center to extend the lead to 3-0.
With Hancock and Robinson in scoring position, freshman Claire Clark delivered in the next at-bat. She recorded an RBI groundout to short, which gave Hancock time to score.
On the first pitch of her at-bat, Lyerly brought the boom and connected for a two-run blast to left field. Her second homer of the season accounted for the Lady Raiders’ final runs.
Montgomery Central scored a run on an RBI single in the fourth, and added its final run in the fifth when a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded scored a run. Hancock escaped the inning with the bases loaded with a strikeout.
Sealing the win, Hancock retired the Lady Timberwolves (3-1) in order in the sixth and registered another four-batter inning in the seventh.
Richmond (1-4) will travel to non-conference South Stanly High School (4-0) Tuesday. The varsity-only game will start at 6 p.m.
