ROCKINGHAM — What is a better way to conclude The Richmond Observer’s Top Sports Stories series of the 2024-25 school year than with a dog pile celebration?
That’s what the Richmond Senior High School baseball team did in early May when it won its first Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament championship title in a decade.
Head coach Eric Brown and the Raiders finished the regular season in second place for the second straight year, and built upon that finish by defeating top-seeded Pinecrest High School in the tournament championship.
Traveling to Pinecrest, Richmond defeated the Patriots 5-3. Senior Evan Hodges pitched a six-inning gem and struck out 10 batters. Closing out the save and starting the celebration was senior reliever Jeremiah Ritter.
Junior Caden Nolan and sophomore Collin Hill both drove in two RBI in the win, including a two-run homer by Nolan that put Richmond ahead by four runs. Sophomore Drew Gause added the other RBI on a groundout.
The Raiders went on to make the NCHSAA 4A East state playoffs and faced Leesville Road High School in the first round.
Revisit all of the excitement from the Raiders’ championship win from May 1, 2025 below:
Tournament Champs: No. 2 Raiders upset No. 1 Pinecrest
SOUTHERN PINES — Even though it was never the case Thursday, the mentality of the Richmond Raider baseball team was to play like it was “down by a run.”
That do-or-die attitude fueled the Raiders and head coach Eric Brown to undoubtedly their biggest win of the season.
Facing No. 1 Pinecrest High School on the road, No. 2 Richmond upset the Patriots 5-3 to win the Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament championship. The victory marked the first time since 2015 that the Raiders reigned atop the tournament standings.
A combination of dominant pitching and timely hitting allowed the Raiders to lead the entire game, starting in the top of the first inning.
Mixing small ball and the long ball, Richmond scored its first three runs courtesy of a sacrifice bunt, a sacrifice fly and an RBI groundout. A two-run homer in the middle innings distanced the Raiders for good.
Entering the night having lost both regular season meetings with the Patriots (18-8), the Raiders’ game plan was to stick together and earn every run and out.
Having not pitched against Pinecrest in either of the previous meetings, junior Evan Hodges was electric on the mound. Using a good combination of his curveball, change-up and fastball, he pitched six innings to get the win.
Stranding six runners on base, including several in scoring position, Hodges recorded 10 strikeouts. He allowed three earned runs on seven hits and registered a 1-2-3 inning in the third.
Closing out the final inning and credited with the save was senior Jeremiah Ritter. Hosing the Patriots in order to start the celebration, Ritter got a fly out and back-to-back Ks, including the clincher against Mitch Baek looking.
Starting on the mound for Pinecrest was Will Chopping, who suffered the loss. He allowed five runs (three earned) on four hits in his five innings of work.
Andrew Kirk and JC Woolard each pitched an inning of relief. Aside from a hit allowed by Woolard in the seventh, both pitchers put up zeroes.
Senior Jabari Douglas led off the game with an infield single. A fielder’s choice on a grounder by Landon Taylor got the lead runner, but Hodges moved Taylor and himself into scoring position in the next at-bat when he tattooed a standup double to the warning track in right-center.
Pinecrest intentionally walked junior Caden Nolan to load the bases for sophomore Collin Hill. On the third offering from Chopping, Hill laid down a successful sacrifice bunt to score Taylor and make it 1-0.
Richmond’s lead would hold until the Raiders added two more runs in the top of the third. After Hodges got out of a two-on, no-out jam unscathed in the first, and leaving another runner at second base in the second, Richmond took a 3-0 lead.
An error on a Taylor ground ball to short was followed by consecutive free passes to Hodges and Nolan to load the bases again with no outs for Hill. Doing his job, Hill recorded his second RBI of the game with a towering sacrifice fly to deep center field, giving Taylor plenty of time to tag up and score.
Also moving up 90 feet on that scoring play was freshman courtesy runner Devin Haynes, who was running for Hodges. With runners on the corners, sophomore Drew Gause added to the lead with an RBI groundout to short, plating Haynes.
Hodges dialed in and sat the Patriots down in order in the bottom of the third. Pinecrest managed to get its first run of the game on an RBI double with one out in the fourth. Zoning back in, Hodges struck out the next two batters to end the inning and limit the damage.
The game-changing moment came in the top of the fifth inning for the Raiders. With two away, Hodges won an eight-pitch at-bat against Chopping to draw a walk.
Digging in next was Nolan, who battled off several pitches from Chopping. On the fifth pitch, Nolan put the sweet spot of the bat on the ball and lasered a no-doubt two-run home run to straight away center field.
That blast, Nolan’s second longball of the season, sailed over the Patriots’ logo in center to make it 5-1, Richmond’s largest lead of the game.
Again in the bottom of the fifth, Hodges didn’t let base runners impact his performance. With on out and two on, he struck out consecutive batters to leave a pair of runners in scoring position.
Pinecrest’s final two runs came in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run home run. Even with the deficit cut to two runs, Hodges finished the frame by retiring the next three batters in order to end his night.
After Ritter recorded the final out to Baek, the Raiders celebrated with a dogpile on the infield. SAC president Dr. Chad Hill presented Richmond and Pinecrest with a tournament plaque for champion and runner-up, respectively.
Richmond recorded five hits to Pinecrest’s seven hits. Nolan had a homer, Hodges hit a double and Douglas, Taylor and senior Conner Phifer each had a single.
Finishing the season with a 17-9 overall record, which included the SAC tournament, the Raiders also clinched their second straight second-place finish in the conference. Against SAC opponents, Richmond went 8-4 in regular-season action.
Up next for Richmond will be the NCHSAA 4A East state playoffs. Brackets will be released Monday. The Raiders are currently projected to be on the road in the first round, which will be Tuesday.
