ROCKINGHAM - Local municipalities aren’t the only ones stocking up on Fourth of July firepower, as the Richmond Rattlers senior team popped its way past the Pinecrest Pines Monday night for its fifth straight win.
Improving to 5-2 on the season in the Central Carolina Scholastic Summer League, the Rattlers were all business for the fifth consecutive game, and beat the Pines’ senior team 4-1. With the win, Richmond completed the CCSSL season sweep of its Moore County foe, outscoring the Pines 27-11 in three games.
Head coach Ricky Young was away from the team for the second straight game, as his son, and rising senior middle infielder, Brett Young was in Georgia competing in a showcase tournament. But the Rattlers didn’t miss a step, as it was rising senior Cameron Carraway who assistant coach David Lee sent to the hill for the second game in a row.
Locked and loaded from the mound, Carraway earned his second win of the summer by pitching a complete game, allowing just one run on five Pinecrest hits. He also struck out seven Pines batters, and save for a bloop single, was one batter away from pitching a shutout. His other win came last week against Scotland High School in a 5-1 win over the Sliders.
“It was an outstanding performance by Cameron tonight,” Lee said of the right-hander. “He was able to keep their batters off balance, and the one run they scored was off bloop base hit just out of reach by our infielder.
“If you take away bloop base hit, he may have had a shutout,” he added. “We were a little bit undermanned tonight because of vacations. So with a short bullpen, Cameron did a great job.”
Aside from the absence of Young, rising senior Alex Anderson and rising junior Dallas Cowick, who Lee called a “great utility player,” were also out of the lineup. In regards to the short bullpen, rising junior left-hander Mitchell Paul had some arm discomfort, which kept him on the bench.
Though it wasn’t their highest scoring affair this season, the Rattlers were able to play a little small ball when it mattered and proved successful with station to station baseball. To lead off the home half of the first inning, Pinecrest walked four consecutive batters, which ultimately allowed leadoff hitter and rising senior catcher Garet Weigman to score. Fellow rising senior Garret Richardson was credited with an RBI.
A couple of innings later in the fourth, with the game tied at one, the Rattlers would explode for their final three runs. Rising senior Nolan Allen led off the frame with a single, and took second base a couple pitches later with a steal. Chris Austin, who started at first base with Carraway on the mound, scored Allen with a well-placed bunt that the Pinecrest pitcher airmailed over the first baseman’s head, allowing Austin to scamper to second base with no outs.
Rising senior Evan Hudson sacrificed himself with a bunt, moving Austin to third. A walk and a stolen base by Harrison Chance put runners at second and third, before Carraway drew a one-out walk to load the bases. Weigman drew a bases-loaded walk to score Austin, and rising senior Tyler Bass sent a sacrifice fly to the outfield, plating Chance to cap off the night’s scoring.
“We used some aggressive baserunning tonight, and stole several bases to get runners in scoring position,” Lee said of the Rattlers’ offense. “Nolan had two hits, and Chris had a great bunt with the game tied at one, which moved Nolan and eventually led to the go-ahead run. Chris also played a great defensive game at first, making several digs out of the dirt.”
With seven of their 15 games of the CCSSL schedule in the books, the Rattlers are continuing to impress Lee and Young.
“This summer league is, in my opinion of 20 years of coaching high school baseball, perfect for high school players,” Lee commented. “It’s a great spring training atmosphere after the regular season with free substitutions, allowing playing time and getting kids on the field for game action.
“Coach Young always says we want to play hard enough effort-wise to win,” he concluded. “But getting a lot of kids experience helps us as coaches get our idea for the team next spring. We won (the CCSSL championship) last year -- and we’ve had some success with wins and losses over the years. But it’s invaluable being able to evaluate what next year’s team might look like.”
The Rattlers will take a week-long break for the holiday before traveling to Union Pines High School on Tuesday, July 10. The junior team will kick things off at 4 p.m., followed by the senior team at 6:15 p.m. It is the first of three games on three straight nights against Union Pines -- game two is home on Wednesday, July 11, followed by another road game on Thursday, July 12.
