ROCKINGHAM — Clinching another Sandhills Athletic Conference series Friday, the Richmond Senior High School baseball team remained in second place in the standings.
Using a fast start, the Raiders rolled Lee County High School 12-2 in six innings. The mercy-rule victory followed a 10-inning win on the road Tuesday and marked Richmond’s third straight SAC series win.
Richmond scored three runs in the first inning and used a five-run second inning to put the game in cruise control.
The big lead gave senior starting pitcher Jason Walker a comfort zone to deal from the hill. The right-hander went 4.1 innings and allowed just two unearned runs one two hits, while striking out six batters.
Senior relief pitcher Jeremiah Ritter went the final 1.1 innings. He had one strikeout and limited the Yellow Jackets (7-7, 4-4 SAC) to just two hits.
Capitalizing on six errors by Lee County, Richmond had five hits in the game. Senior Landon Taylor had a team-high two singles and juniors Evan Hodges and Caden Nolan, along with sophomore Drew Gause, each had one base hit.
A four-batter top of the first by Walker was followed by the Raiders jumping ahead 3-0. Senior Jabari Douglas led off with a walk and scored in the next plate appearance when Taylor reached on an error.
A pair of free passes loaded the bases and Gause recorded his hit to drive in two runs. Singling to left field on a line drive, Gause brought in Taylor and Ritter (running for Hodges, walk).
A leadoff walk to junior Jacob Veach in the second started the breakaway inning for the Raiders. He scored when Taylor singled to left field with one out.
An RBI single to left field by Nolan scored Taylor to extend the lead to 5-0. A passed ball recorded Richmond’s next run, scoring Nolan.
Freshman Devin Haynes reached on an error with two outs later in the inning. Racing home on the miscue were sophomore Collin Hill and Gause, both of whom drew a walk.
The first of Richmond’s two 10-run leads came in the bottom of the fourth. Two errors by the Yellow Jackets scored Ritter (running for Hodges, hit-by-pitch) and Nolan (error).
Lee County forced the game to continue with two runs in the top of the fifth. The first run was scored on an error and an RBI single made it 10-2.
Hill reached on an error in the second plate appearance in the bottom of the sixth, which gave Nolan (walk) time to score. A wild pitch to the backstop allowed Hill to score the game-ending run with two outs.
The Raiders (10-6, 7-3 SAC) will close out the week Saturday with its alumni day at home against non-conference Caldwell Academy (6-9). First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Sports editor’s note: Statistics and game information provided by Richmond’s Game Changer.
