SOUTHERN PINES — When their feet have been pressed to the fire in big games at John Williams Stadium the past two seasons, the Richmond Raiders have stood tall and answered with timely victories.
That was again the case Tuesday, as the Raiders kept their shot at winning the inaugural Mid-South Conference regular season title alive.
Needing to take both games this week against Pinecrest High School in order to hoist their first banner in more than a decade, the Raiders completed a comeback 6-5 win over the Patriots.
The win moved them into a tie with Pinecrest for first place with matching 12-2 conference records.
Scoring six unanswered runs after trailing by five runs early on, the Raiders put together another memorable win similar to last year’s conference tournament championship win over the Patriots.
Richmond’s bats came alive in the middle innings, scoring two runs in the top of the third and four runs in the fourth frame.
A two-pitcher effort was required by the Raiders to get the win. Senior Caden Nolan, who’s been electric this season, got the start and overcame a slow first inning. He pitched 3.1 innings and allowed five earned runs on five hits with five strikeouts.
Sophomore Devin Haynes took over in the fourth inning and pitched the final 3.2 innings. Hanging a zero in the run column, Haynes limited the Patriots to just three hits and struck out six batters.
The Patriots also put two of their top pitchers on the mound Tuesday, starting with left-hander Bohdi Robertson. He lasted 3.1 innings and allowed five runs (one earned) before Richmond’s bats chased him from the game.
William Chopping, who no-hit the Raiders earlier this season, threw 3.2 innings of relief. He surrendered an earned run on one hit.
Richmond’s head coach Eric Brown tipped his cap to both of the Raiders’ pitchers for holding it together the final six innings.
“Caden didn’t have his best stuff tonight, but he’s been our guy all year,” Brown said. “We wouldn’t be in the position we are without him and he battled the whole time. He settled in and worked back from the first inning.
“Devin was great, too. He kept attacking them and he excelled in a role he’s done well in all year. I felt really good giving him the ball.”
Pinecrest appeared to take control of the game early, scoring all five of its runs in the bottom of the first inning.
The Patriots used a three-run homer by Robertson and added two runs on a double by Seth Norris with two outs to go up 5-0.
But that was it for Pinecrest’s bats, as Nolan and Haynes combined to keep the Patriots scoreless over the next six innings. Together, Nolan (5) and Haynes (8) stranded 13 batters on base to preserve the win.
Nolan faced just four batters in the second inning and quickly got the Raiders back in the dugout, which resulted in their first two runs.
With two gone, senior Jake Veach reached on an error. Senior Maddox Locklear beat out an infield single to the shortstop and an intentional walk to Nolan loaded the bases for senior Evan Hodges.
Recording the first of his team-high three runs batted in, Hodges reached safely on a fielder’s choice that resulted in all of Richmond’s runners being safe. In the next plate appearance, junior Drew Gause was patient and drew a five-pitch walk to bring in Locklear to cut the deficit to 5-2.
An inning later, the Raiders again loaded the bases, this time with one out. Reaching base were freshman Julius Bowden (error), freshman Noah Stubbs (hit-by-pitch) and Veach (walk).
Robertson was pulled after the free pass to Veach, which set up Chopping against Locklear. On the second offering, Locklear hit a grounder to the left side of the infield and was credited with two RBI when Bowden and Stubbs both scored as the result of a fielder’s choice and an error on a bad throw.
Veach and Locklear both moved into scoring position after the Patriots’ miscue, which later brought up Hodges with two away.
Digging in with a 2-2 count, Hodges delivered big time with a two-RBI double. Beating the outfield shift, Hodges lasered a double to the wall in the left field corner that plated Veach and Locklear with ease to give the Raiders a 6-5 lead.
“Evan had that two-out, two-strike double in the fourth that gave us the lead,” Brown said. “That was a big time hit by a big time player who’s been one of our leaders the last couple years.
“Facing Bohdi and Chopping was a battle, but our guys kept battling at the plate. Those couple of innings were a blur, but we gave ourselves a chance and held on. I’m really proud of the guys for the grit they showed tonight.”
Haynes took over with two runners on and one out in the bottom of the fourth and got a strikeout and a fly out to the next two batters to end the threat.
A fielder’s choice to third base with two runners on recorded the final out of the fifth for Richmond. Similar to the fourth inning, Haynes used a K and a routine fly ball to leave two runners on base in the sixth.
Two one-out walks put the tying and game-winning runners on base for the Patriots in the seventh. Haynes locked in and struck out Jack Trythall and got Chopping to field into a game-ending 4-6 fielder’s choice.
The Raiders (17-6, 12-2 MSC) will conclude their regular season schedule with senior night Thursday at home against the Patriots (18-6, 12-2 MSC).
A win would secure the regular-season MSC title for Richmond. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m.
