OAKBORO, N.C. – Entering Wednesday’s non-conference matchup against the No. 1 softball team in the state against West Stanly High School, the No. 5-ranked Lady Raiders had only been sat down in order in nine of the last 48 innings during their eight-game winning streak.
But Richmond’s bats cooled off Wednesday, as the Lady Raiders’ winning streak was snapped, and were retired in order in four of the seven innings played in a 5-3 loss to the Lady Colts. All five of West Stanly’s (12-1) runs came on two home runs.
Just one night after shelling Sandhills Athletic Conference opponent Hoke County 22-2, Richmond (8-2) only mustered six hits as it struggled to get on base against West Stanly’s left-hander Ashley Frey. The senior pitcher tossed six innings, and got a lot of help from her teammates, collecting seven fly ball outs, five ground outs and five strikeouts.
Fellow left-hander Jordan Hatch came in to close the game in the seventh, striking out the side in order.
“We got behind early and we weren’t able to adjust,” explained head coach Wendy Wallace. “By the third time through (the lineup), we made better adjustments and we were able to put some hits together. But we can’t stay down on a good team – we knew they would be a tough team to beat.
“They (West Stanly) can hit, and even giving up five runs, we should be able to score more than three,” she continued. “Greyson (Way) got ahead early and threw some strikes, but good hitters make you pay. We’ll learn from it and adjust. The two home runs weren’t the reasons why we lost – we didn’t put hits together and we need to find a way to score against good teams.”
The Lady Raiders managed to break into the scoring column first, courtesy of a Paige Ransom one-out, RBI-single up the middle. Kayla Hawkins, who led off the inning with her second double of the season, scored from second to give Richmond a 1-0 lead.
Way, who has dominated in the circle this season for Richmond, was solid through the first three innings, collecting eight consecutive outs after giving up a one-out single and walk in the first inning. But she ran into trouble in the bottom of the fourth inning.
West Stanly’s Bailey Huneycutt led off the home half with a line drive single to left field, but reached second base safely following a miscommunication between Savannah Lampley and Mackenzie Webb. In the next at-bat, Payton Whitley muscled a laser beam to centerfield that just cleared the fence for a two-run home run, her 11th longball and 34th RBI in 13 games this year.
Way answered right back at the dish in the top of the fifth inning, as she threaded the needle with a two-out, two-RBI bases loaded double down the third base line. Payton Chappell (who reached on a fielder’s choice) and Lampley (who doubled with two outs) scored on the play. With Owen Bowers moving to third on Way’s double, Richmond couldn’t make anything else happen with two runners in scoring position, leaving them both stranded, but regained the game’s momentum up 3-2.
The final scoring play of the night would come in the bottom of the sixth inning when Roslyn McRae sent the Lady Colts’ second home run of the night over the centerfield wall. Her three-blast scored Huneycutt (reached on an error) and Whitley (single) to go ahead 5-3.
Lampley and Ransom led Richmond with two hits each, and Way collected a team-high two RBIs. From the circle, Way (8-2, 2.03 ERA) threw six innings, gave up eight hits, four earned runs and struck out five batters.
The Lady Raiders will round out their three-game week and look to get back to their winning ways Thursday as they’ll host Hoke County to complete the regular season series against the Lady Bucks (8-2, 4-2 SAC). First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.
