FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – While sitting at a picnic table toward the end of February during a season-preview interview, Richmond Senior High School head softball coach Wendy Wallace commented that her 11 players on this year’s team were the “most athletic” group of girls she’s had in her 12-year tenure.
And while the 2018 Lady Raiders have impressed all season in several facets of the game, Friday’s road win at Seventy-First High School may have taken the cake for the best cumulative performance at the plate and in the field.
Richmond (16-3, 12-0 SAC) clipped the Lady Falcons (1-13, 0-12 SAC) in dominating fashion, rolling to a 34-1 victory over its Sandhills Athletic Conference opponent in four innings (game was called early by Seventy-First).
The 34 runs set the program’s new record for the most runs scored in a single game, surpassing the previous record of 30 runs plated in a game against Westover High School in 2008. In that game, Richmond also set its most runs in an inning in a single game when it scored 15 in the second inning.
The Lady Raiders also claimed the SAC regular season title with its 12th-straight conference victory this season. With two more SAC games to go against Scotland High School next week to end the regular season, Richmond, to date, has swept conference play the last two seasons (20-0) and has only lost one game to Scotland dating back to the 2016 season. That blemish was a 6-4 loss on the road on April 12, 2016. Over the last three seasons, Richmond is 29-1 when it plays conference opponents.
It’s been a week full of record-breaking performances for the Lady Raiders. In Tuesday’s game, a 17-0 rout of Seventy-First, freshman Paige Ransom cranked her eighth homer of the season, surpassing current junior Greyson Way’s school record of seven set in 2016. Another team record the Lady Raiders broke Friday was the most doubles in a game by different players, as six batters roped doubles (Brianna Baysek, Payton Chappell, Kayla Hawkins, Madison Jordan and Ransom all had one two-bagger in the game).
Sending 50 total batters to the dish Friday, Richmond smacked 23 hits and broke another school record by recording 28 total RBIs. Senior catcher Owen Bowers led the way with six RBIs, while Jordan and Way each knocked in five of their own, combining for over half of the team’s total RBIs. Hawkins had three RBIs, while Chappell, Ransom and Savannah Lampley all had two.
The Lady Raiders also had nine different players score multiple runs, which is another school record set by this year’s team.
Scoring exactly 10 runs in three separate innings (first, second and fourth), Richmond boosted its team batting average to .384 on the season. Lampley (4-for-4) and Bowers (3-for-3) went perfect at the plate, combining for five singles, a triple and a home run, and each scored five runs. According to Maxpreps, Lampley, who is Richmond’s leadoff hitter, leads 4A competition in runs scored (39) and is tied for first in total hits (39) and doubles (11). She’s also second in 4A with 23 stolen bases at the time of this publication.
The 10 runs in three different innings by the Lady Raiders was the first time that such occasion has happened in a decade. The last time it happened was in 2008 when Murphy High School defeated Blue Ridge High School 59-0. It’s only the sixth time in the fast-pitch era a team has accomplished that feat.
Seventy-First starting pitcher Madison Tompkins threw two innings, gave up 20 runs, with only nine being earned. The Lady Falcons committed nine errors on the night, and Unique Nash finished out the final two innings by giving up 14 runs (12 of which were earned). The two pitchers combined for just one strikeout, five walks, seven hit batters and allowed four Lady Raiders home runs. That mark tied a school record for the most dingers in a game, and was also done earlier this season at SAC foe Hoke County High School on March 27 in a 22-2 trolling.
Way became the first Lady Raiders player this season to belt two longballs in the same game. Both of her shots, No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, were two-run shots to center and left field. Her first came with two outs in the first inning to give Richmond a 10-0 lead, and she helped round out the scoring in the fourth, driving in two runs to make the game 24-0.
Hawkins led off the top of the second by driving a ball to the opposite corner, which smacked off the low fence and careened back past right fielder, allowing Hawkins to gallop home. Of Richmond’s 32 home runs hit this season, it is the first inside-the-park home run. Bowers capped off the four-homer performance with a little yard work of her own, crushing a three run-shot that made it 27-0 three batters into the top of the fourth inning.
Still in the same inning, it would be Bowers who broke the school record. After Chappell skied a sacrifice fly to shallow center field and scored Hawkins from third, Bowers dropped a bloop single into shallow left-center field with the bases loaded, allowing fellow senior Kenzie Webb to cross the plate and propelling Richmond into the record books.
“I’ve continually worked hard to get my swing right along with my mentality,” Bowers commented when asked about her big performance that got her out of a hitting slump. “Softball has so much to do with your thoughts. I was pressing a lot at the beginning of the season because I felt as a senior I should lead the team in all areas. But I’ve come to realize I just need to do my job. I’ve loosened up and just started playing the game I’ve been playing for 10 years.”
Runs 32 through 34 came courtesy of a Way RBI single, an error on a ground ball to shortstop by Baysek and a Hawkins RBI single.
Not only did Way go 4-for-5 at the dish with two homers, five RBIs and a team-best 11 total bases, but she also did her usual thing from the circle. She faced just 15 batters in the four innings, giving up two hits and striking out eight. The Lady Falcons’ only run of the night came in the bottom of the fourth inning after Way loaded the bases on a single, error and catcher’s interference. Nash would dash home on a passed ball.
When asked about her team’s record-setting performance, Wallace remained modest. She smiled, said “it was a great game” and that her “players hit the ball really well.” But after the win, the team’s focus immediately shifted from the Lady Falcons to the Lady Dragons of Marlboro Academy, which Richmond is slated to play on Monday.
“We’ve got to regroup at practice Saturday,” Wallace explained, noting that the pitching is going to be significantly tougher against MA’s ace Jenna Greene. “It took us one time through the lineup to adjust against Anson (on Wednesday after playing Seventy-First on Tuesday), and we don’t need to give ourselves an extra nine outs to adjust to Jenna. We’re going to get back on track.”
“The pitching (Monday) will be a lot different,” Way echoed. “We saw a lot of balls that were dropping off because they were so slow (against Seventy-First), but Monday we’ll see the complete opposite because we know Jenna throws a lot of rise balls. We just have to adjust to it and stay on top of the ball so we don’t hit a lot of fly balls.”
Bowers agreed with her coach and battery mate.
“We’re going to have to work hard to prepare for Monday,” Bowers said, also noting her confidence is up at the plate after Friday’s win. “It’s not going to be easy. We just don’t need to press and play our game. I expect it to be a good matchup with two good teams.”
Richmond is looking to avenge a season-opening 4-0 loss to Greene and the Lady Dragons. The junior ace held Richmond to just one hit (a Hawkins single). With rain looming in the forecast, the game is set for 5:30 p.m. The Lady Raiders will also wrap up the regular season with two matchups against Scotland on Tuesday (at Scotland) and Friday’s Senior Night at home. Both games are slated for a 7 p.m. start.
