ROCKINGHAM — In its home opener Tuesday, the Richmond Senior High School junior varsity baseball team suffered its first loss of the season.
Continuing Mid-South Conference action, the JV Raiders couldn’t get into a rhythm at the plate against Jack Britt High School.
Playing six innings due to the time limit, Richmond lost 14-6 the JV Buccaneers.
Only a two-run deficit through the first four innings, Jack Britt added its host of insurance runs in the fifth and sixth frames.
Head coach Anthony Hailey said the team’s first loss was the result of a couple of things.
“We didn’t throw enough strikes consistently today to give ourselves a chance to win, especially in the later innings,” Hailey said. “There were also a couple plays in the field that we didn’t make and that cost us some runs.
“We swung the bat okay, but not well enough when we had runners in scoring position for the majority of the early innings,” he added. “It was good to see some pop in our bats in the sixth. We’re a young team and we’re learning, guys are getting used to new roles. We’ll take this and learn from it.”
Richmond used four pitchers in the game, starting with freshman Cooper Gainey. He pitched three innings and gave up two earned runs on three hits with two Ks.
Freshman Nate Culbreth tossed two innings of relief and also surrendered two earned runs on three hits with two strikeouts.
Combining to pitch the final inning were freshmen Christian Gardner and Jacob Stogner. Gardner allowed five earned runs on two hits, while Stogner (1.0 inning) had a line of five runs (three earned) on a pair of hits.
The JV Buccaneers used an infield single and an errant pickoff attempt to score two runs to take a 2-0 lead in the top of the third.
Later in the top of the fifth, a two-RBI single to left field gave the visiting team a 4-0 lead.
Richmond’s first run was scored in the bottom of the fifth. Freshman Brody Bryant, who slashed a single to right field, later scored on a wild pitch to the backstop.
In the top of the sixth, Jack Britt plated 10 runs thanks to four hits, four walks, two errors and a hit-by-pitch.
The JV Raiders attempted a rally in the bottom of the sixth, scoring five runs before the third out.
Gainey got it started with a one-out single which scored freshman Sam O’Neal (error). Two batters later, Bryant hit an RBI base knock to right field to bring in freshman Jackson Parsons, who also helped start the rally with a single.
Down 14-3, sophomore Kerick Hairston Jr. hit a grounder in the next plate appearance and reached on an error, bringing in Gainey to make it a 10-run deficit.
Richmond’s final two runs were courtesy of a Colton Nelson walk with the bases loaded, and Bryant tagged up on a sacrifice fly by Culbreth.
Richmond had eight hits in the loss, led by Bryant’s two singles. Culbreth doubled in the first inning, the team’s only extra-base hit.
The JV Raiders (1-1, 1-1 MSC) travel to Hoke County High School Friday and will start at 4:30 p.m.
