SHALLOTTE — The bats got to work in the later innings Tuesday for the Richmond Senior High School baseball team.
Getting rid of a one-run deficit in the sixth inning, the Raiders scored all of their runs in the final two frames to remain undefeated at the Beach Diamond Invitational.
Stretching its winning streak to a season-long six games, Richmond thrashed its way past host West Brunswick High School 6-3.
Down 1-0 entering the top of the sixth, Richmond tied the game with a solo run in the top half.
A nine-batter top of the seventh inning for the Raiders provided the scoring needed for the win, which resulted in their final five runs.
West Brunswick (8-8) attempted to rally in the seventh and scored two runs. But Richmond’s pitching and defense limited the damage and secured the win.
Continuing to lean into the program’s philosophy of strong pitching and defense, the Raiders were powered by the arm of senior starter Caden Nolan against the Trojans.
Nolan threw 6.0 innings on 106 pitches and commanded the strike zone with a two-hit dandy. He struck out 10 Trojan batters and his lone run given up was unearned.
Facing four batters in each of the first three innings, Nolan faced 11 batters across the fourth and fifth frames. He left two runners on in the fourth and stranded a pair of runners in scoring position in the fifth after West Brunswick scored its first run, getting the final two outs via strikeouts.
An inning later, Nolan capped his quality start with a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth. He got a fly out and his final two punchouts.
Pitching the final inning and credited with the save was senior Maddox Locklear. His line in the seventh was two earned runs on two hits.
The Trojans led off the bottom of the fifth with a single and that runner later scored following an infield error to give the home team a 1-0 lead.
With two outs in the top of the sixth, senior Evan Hodges recorded his fourth run batted in of the tournament to knot the game. He hit a line drive single the opposite way to right field, scoring Locklear (single) from second base.
With runners on the corners, including Nolan (single) at third, Richmond left both guys on base when a fly out was recorded a batter later.
On the heels of Nolan’s 14-pitch bottom half, Richmond pulled away in the top of the seventh. A leadoff walk to sophomore Devin Haynes, coupled with two wild pitches and an error, allowed him to score.
Freshman Noah Stubbs (walk) and senior Jake Veach (walk) took advantage of wild pitches to the backstop, as both Raiders made their way around the bases to score and make it 4-1.
Later, with two away, Nolan kept the inning alive with an RBI base hit. Freshman Julius Bowden (single) scored on the relay and Nolan moved to second following an error during the same sequence.
Coming in clutch again with his second RBI base hit of the game, Hodges mirrored his previous at-bat with a liner into the right field grass to score Nolan. Hodges’ second hit of the game, tied with Nolan for the team lead, made it 6-1.
The Trojans scored their final two runs in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly and a two-out base hit. A fly out to right field ended the game.
Playing for the Beach Diamond Invitational championship Wednesday, the Raiders (12-3) will face undefeated West Stanly High School.
The Colts (16-0) have defeated Randleman and East Bladen high schools to set their meeting with Richmond. The Raiders’ wins have come against Southern Nash and West Brunswick.
First pitch from West Brunswick is scheduled for 5 p.m.
