ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond Senior High School junior varsity baseball team extended its winning streak to six games on Thursday.
Playing just one game this week, the JV Raiders and head coach Corey Wallace defeated Purnell Swett High School 7-3.
Richmond’s varsity team played a two-game set against Lumberton High School, which didn’t field a JV team this spring, so the JV Raiders played the Rams for the third time this season. All three meetings have resulted in Richmond wins.
Scoring six runs in the bottom of the first inning to eliminate a two-run deficit, the JV Raiders gave starting freshman pitcher James Eason a comfortable lead to work with.
Eason threw three innings, gave up three unearned runs on four hits and struck out four. Sophomore Ethan Locklear pitched four innings of relief, allowing just one hit and adding eight punchouts.
Purnell Swett took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to RBI singles from Jacob Chavis and Bladdon Hammonds.
The JV Raiders responded by sending 12 batters to the dish in the home half, scoring six runs on five hits. With one out, sophomore Ashton Phifer doubled, freshman Isaac Hinshaw drew a walk and Locklear singled to load the bases.
Freshman Vance Goodwin beat out an infield single to short to plate Phifer, and fellow freshman Zane Searcy reached on a base on balls to force in Hinshaw from third to tie the game.
A passed ball allowed Locklear to score and moved Goodwin and Searcy into scoring position. Freshman Cain Hunsucker laid down a bunt and reached on an error, scoring Goodwin to take a 4-2 lead.
In the next at-bat, freshman Davis Faw grounded out to second but recorded an RBI when Searcy scored. Sophomore Jullian Cline capped the six-run inning with a two-out base knock to right, bringing home Hunsucker.
The JV Rams added their final run of the game in the top of the fourth when E. Chavis singled to right, scoring Samuel Brewington.
Searcy recorded his team-high second RBI of the afternoon when he laid down a safety squeeze with one out in the bottom of the fourth. With Locklear on third, Searcy bunted the ball down the third base line for the game’s final run.
The JV Raiders collected six hits from six different players — Cline, Eason, Faw, Goodwin, Locklear and Phifer, whose double was the team’s lone extra base hit.
Cline, Faw and Goodwin all had one RBI in addition to Searcy’s two.
With the win, Wallace and the JV Raiders improved to 8-1 on the season, and will return to action with their final two-game series of the spring against Scotland High School starting on June 8.
