ROCKINGHAM — In Thursday’s rubber game, the Richmond Senior High School junior varsity baseball team took the season series against a conference opponent.
Back on their home diamond, the JV Raiders won their second straight game over Jack Britt High School to take two of the three games in the season series.
Extending its overall winning streak to four games, Richmond notched a 12-2 victory by way of mercy rule (five innings).
The game was only a two-run lead for the JV Raiders entering the home half of the fifth, but an eight-run burst broke the game open.
Freshman Jackson Parsons drove in a team-high three runs batted in. Eight others all had one RBI — Sam O’Neal, Colton Nelson, Nate Culbreth, Jaxton Watson, Conner Locklear, Brody Bryant, Nate Erwin and Kerick Hairston Jr.
Totaling 10 hits as a team, all of them singles, the JV Raiders were led by Nelson, Watson and Parsons, each of whom had two hits. O’Neal, Culbreth, Bryant and Erwin all singled once.
Parsons pitched another strong effort Thursday, going five innings for the win. His line was two earned runs on two hits with five strikeouts.
Taking a two-run deficit off the board in the bottom of the first, Richmond tied the game 2-2. With the bases loaded, Watson scored O’Neal (walk) on a sacrifice fly to center.
An RBI base hit from Parsons a couple batters later drove in Nelson (walk) to knot the score.
Parsons faced just seven batters over the span of the second and third innings. He got some run support in the bottom of the third, which made it a 4-2 lead for Richmond.
Nelson (error) scored on a wild pitch for the eventual game-winning run with one out. Two pitches later, Jackson recorded his second RBI single of the game, this one an infield hit that plated Watson (single).
Two more 1-2-3 top halves by Jackson set the table for Richmond’s eight-run bottom of the fifth.
Parsons’ third RBI came with a no-out, bases-loaded walk. A pitch later, Bryant singled to the right side of the infield to make it 6-2.
Still with the bases loaded, Erwin lined an RBI base hit to center for the next run. Hairston Jr. scored Parsons on a sac fly to the opposite corner of the outfield.
Adding to the 8-2 advantage, O’Neal, Nelson and Culbreth moved all the runners up 90 feet on back-to-back-to-back RBI singles to make it 11-2.
The JV Raiders walked it off two batters later when Locklear was plunked with a pitch with the bases loaded to move the final run across the plate.
The JV Raiders (7-3, 7-2 MSC) will return to action following spring break. Their next game is April 14 at Hoke County High School.
Sports editor’s note: Game information and statistics provided by Richmond’s GameChanger.
