RAEFORD — The Richmond Senior High School baseball team didn’t need to give a lot of run support following Tuesday’s effort on the mound by senior pitcher Caden Nolan.
Returning to Mid-South Conference action on the road at Hoke County High School, the Raiders defeated the Bucks for the second time in as many tries this season.
Riding a complete game shutout by Nolan, which featured a single-game career-high 15 strikeouts, Richmond earned a 4-0 win.
Recording his sixth double-digit outing in eight starts this season, Nolan pitched a three-hitter and lowered his earned run average to 0.52 on the season. Tuesday’s performance was the fourth time he didn’t allow a run in a game.
Throwing just 88 pitches, Nolan didn’t give up a base on balls and was just three batters over the minimum. He had 1-2-3 innings in the first, fourth, fifth and sixth frames.
Richmond scored a solo run in the second inning, added two runs in the third and capped its scoring with a run in the top of the fifth.
Senior Evan Hodges and junior Drew Gause each had two hits and one run batted in. Freshman Noah Stubbs had a hit and an RBI and sophomore Drew McCaskill was credited with one RBI.
Rounding out Richmond’s eight-hit effort, which were all singles, were Nolan, senior Maddox Locklear and freshman Julius Bowden.
McCaskill plated the eventual game-winning RBI in the top of the second when he grounded into a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded. On the 4-6 putout, Hodges (walk) scored from third.
Bowden singled off starting pitcher James Tatum (6.2 innings, four earned runs, eight hits) to lead off the third inning. Hodges connected for his first hit and an RBI with a single to left field with two outs, scoring Bowden.
Moving to second base on the throw, Hodges scored one pitch later when Gause found a hole in the right side of the infield for an RBI base hit. That put Richmond ahead 3-0.
The Raiders’ final run of the game also came with two gone, this time off the bat of Stubbs in the top of the fifth. The lefty singled on a line drive the opposite way, which plated sophomore Devin Haynes (fielder’s choice).
Not needing any more run support, Nolan struck out the Bucks in order in the fifth on 14 pitches. His 1-2-3 sixth inning featured two more Ks and Nolan erased a leadoff single in the seventh by retiring the next three batters.
Looking to take the three-game season sweep, the Raiders (13-4, 9-1 MSC) will host the Bucks (8-8, 5-6 MSC) Friday. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
Sports Editor’s Note: Game information and statistics provided by Richmond’s GameChanger.
