Richmond County's middle school sports continued this week with baseball, softball and boys' and girls' soccer.
Lady Rockets win soccer shoot out
The Rockets and Red Rams have been rivals since 1916 and if you’ve ever wondered just how much these schools want to win when competing with one another, look no further than Wednesday’s epic battle between the girls' soccer teams from Rockingham and Hamlet middle schools.
The physical defensive battle included several penalties, two injury timeouts, a broken bone, and a shootout. When it was all over, it was Rockingham who claimed a 3-2 road victory.
Hamlet goalkeeper Quanna Bostic was the star of the show in the first half. Rockingham had 10 shots on goal to just two for the Lady Red Rams, but eight saves by Bostic, who often ran to the ball instead of waiting for it to come to her, kept Rockingham off the scoreboard.
With 17:10 remaining in the first half, Bostic collided with Rockingham’s Hanna Smith. With her goalkeeper down, Hamlet’s Neveah Harris fought to clear the ball away from approaching Lady Rockets looking to take advantage of the undefended net. Rockingham’s Karley Simmons was caught up in the action, and once play had moved away from the Hamlet side of the field spectators began to notice that both Bostic and Simmons were still lying on the turf.
Bostic eventually rose to her feet and would later rejoin the game. Simmons, on the other hand, was carried off the field and taken to the hospital for medical care.
It wasn’t until the 3:53 mark that the ice was finally broken. Hamlet’s Layla Smith booted a penalty kick attempt just inside of the left post to give the Lady Red Rams a 1-0 lead that they would carry into the break.
Carley Gulledge added to the Hamlet lead with a goal just 40 seconds into the second half. Rockingham’s Jamyia Lindsey netted a PK with 15:55 remaining and Lady Rocket Addison Butler tied it up with a goal at the 9:16 mark. Both teams had opportunities to end it in regulation, but a shootout was needed as the clock expired with the teams knotted at two each.
The Lady Rockets claimed the victory by outshooting Hamlet 3-2 in the game deciding PK attempts. Butler, Presley Dawkins and Mariana Mendoza booted the winning goals in the shootout for Rockingham.
West, Red Rams soccer shuts out Rockingham
Hamlet boys soccer coach Earl Nicholson did not want his Red Rams to get complacent after a big 5-1 road victory over Ellerbe Middle on Tuesday.
“I kept telling them how good Rockingham was,” Nicholson said. “I kept reminding them that (Rockingham) had beaten the other teams too.”
Building up the game seemed to pay off as it resulted in quality practice time and a quality showing against Rockingham in Wednesday’s rivalry game. The Red Rams claimed an impressive 5-0 victory over the Rockets and improved to 3-0 on the season.
Leading the way for the Red Rams was Billy West who netted a "haul," scoring four of Hamlet’s five goals in the contest. Jordan Bostick scored one goal, Memphis Jacobs earned two assists and Jaxsen Squires was also credited with an assist in the win.
Ellerbe soccer splits with Cordova
Ellerbe’s girls soccer team earned a big 3-1 over Cordova on Wednesday to stay in the running for a county championship appearance. Cordova struck first when Genesis Alicea received the ball from Kayla McDougald and found the back of the net accounting for the only score of the first half.
The second half belonged to Ellerbe as Mariana Gonzalez Aguilar scored twice for the Lady Wildcats and Ava Thompson added another goal.
In the boys’ game, Ellerbe’s Garret Mabe connected on two penalty kicks accounting for the Wildcats’ only goals. Cordova’s Noah Gil matched Mabe with two scores of his own. Gonzalo Gonzales Morales found the net for the Cavaliers as well giving Cordova a 3-2 advantage and win.
Morales and Adam Estridge each had an assist for Cordova in the victory.
Hamlet softball leads county after mercy-rule victory over Rockingham
After falling behind 2-0 early its game against rival Rockingham on Thursday, Hamlet’s softball team blew the game open with a 10-run third inning highlighted by a home run from leadoff batter Hayden Robinson to defeat the Lady Rockets 13-3 in Hamlet.
Robinson, who also recorded a triple in the game, finished the afternoon 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs.
Jakayla Steele, who hit a home run at Ellerbe earlier in the week, did not hit the ball out of the park on Thursday, but did managed to circle the bases against the Lady Rockets. Steele hit, what should have been a double, in the third inning, but managed to make a complete lap around the bases courtesy of some Rockingham miscues. She finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
Also recording hits for the Lady Red Rams were Orena Drake (2-for-3, two RBIs), Kinsie Lyerly (2-for-3, two RBIs), Amariyana Ingram (1-for-2), Trinity Lockhart (1-for-3, one RBI), and Madelynn Pearson (1-for-4, one RBI).
Pearson, who recorded a no-hitter in the circle and collected seven strikeouts, helped her own cause by bringing home the 13th run in the bottom of the fifth giving Hamlet a 10-run lead and ending the game.
Rockets hold off late rally to defeat Red Rams
Thursday’s baseball battle between Rockingham and Hamlet got off to a slow start, but the bats from both teams came alive in the later innings. The Rockets gave themselves a big lead with six-run fifth inning and then held off a late rally by Hamlet to defeat the Red Rams 7-5 in a pivotal game between the county leaders.
In the first four innings, the two teams managed to record only four hits combined, but Rockingham used two of those hits to get on the board first.
After Riley Brown hit a two-out single in the third inning, Landon Taylor brought him home with a long double that rolled back to the left field fence to put the Rockets ahead 1-0.
In the top of the fifth inning, the Rockets used a walk and five consecutive hits to plate six more runs. Preston Fann watched as four straight pitches from Hamlet’s Jason Walker failed to find the strike zone and took the free base. Jason Robinson, Andrae Streeter, Brown and Taylor each followed with singles with Brown and Taylor both bringing home a pair of runners to extend the Rocket lead to 5-0.
Jeremiah Ritter brought home Taylor with a triple, and then Ritter came home on a ground out by Gray Maultsby to put the visitors head 7-0.
The Red Rams went down in order in the bottom of the fifth inning, but found some life during their next at-bat in the sixth.
Hamlet’s Allen Taylor and Drew Gause reached on an error and a walk, respectively. AJ James later brought home Taylor with an RBI single to left field and Gause came home on a single from Grayson McLean. Hamlet managed to load the bases from there with two outs, but Ritter was able to stop the bleeding from the mound with a clutch strikeout to end the inning and sending the Rockets into the seventh with a 7-2 advantage.
After Rockingham failed to add to its lead in the top of the seventh, Hamlet had one last chance. Walker started things off with a triple and Taylor brought him home with a single giving Hamlet new life. Later, with one out on the board, Chase Woody and James drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. McLean was hit by a pitch bringing home one run and Jabari drew a bases-loaded walk bringing the Red Rams to within two at 7-5.
However, as he did before, Ritter settled, collected a pair of strikeouts, and ended the game.
Taylor led the way at the plate for Rockingham going 3-for-3 with three RBIs. Brown was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
With the win, the Rockets improve to 2-0 on the season while the Red Rams fall to 1-1.
Ellerbe softball edges Cordova
The Ellerbe softball team defeated Cordova 15-12 on Thursday. Getting the win in the circle for the Lady Wildcats was Kenley Smith.
Coach Tommy Shelton said Smith pitched great, and collecting hits for Ellerbe were Addison Raines, McKenzie Hill and Kamryn Simmons.
