All season long, the Richmond Senior J.V. baseball team has found ways to win.

Tuesday afternoon at home against Pinecrest, the J.V. Raiders took a little while to get their bats going. But when they did, they didn’t look back, motoring to a 10-2 win over the Patriots.

With the win, the J.V. Raiders improved to 8-0 overall (4-0 SEC).

“This is a great team,” said J.V. Raiders coach Sam Williams. “We’ve got some guys who can swing the bat.”

And the J.V. Raiders also got an excellent mound outing from Ryan Mercer, who went the distance, striking out six.

Mercer, who has been struggling a bit lately, got off to a rocky start in this one, hitting the first two batters. But he settled down quickly and recovered to post the impressive complete-game victory.

Mercer said the key was gaining control of all three of his pitches: fastball, curve, and change-up.

“The defense played great behind me,” Mercer said. “I just had to settle down and throw strikes.”

The Patriots got on the scoreboard first with a single run in the top of the third.

Richmond came right back and gained the lead in its half of the frame. Gregg Balzer led off with a walk, and was forced at second on an Austin Brower fielder’s choice. Andrew Henderson singled, moving Brower to second, and then both runners moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch.

With two outs, it was Jordan Tucker coming through in the clutch, plating both runners with a single up the middle to give Richmond a 2-1 lead.

Pinecrest tied the game on a solo homer in the top of the fourth, but then Richmond responded again in its half of the inning with a big scoring outburst, putting eight runs on the board.

The J.V. Raiders loaded the bases with no outs: Todd Inman led off with a booming double to the base of the wall in straightaway center. Nathan Cain, attempting to sacrifice Inman to third, instead reached base on a perfectly-placed bunt past the Pinecrest pitcher. Alex Clark walked to load the bases.

Balzer drove in a pair of runs with a double, and Brower reached on an error, plating another run.

With Andrew Henderson at the plate, the J.V. Raiders executed a double steal, and the throw home was wild, scoring another run for a 6-2 Richmond advantage.

Henderson doubled in another run, and then pitcher Ryan Mercer helped himself with the bat, singling in a run for an 8-2 advantage. There were still no outs.First baseman Cody Brown later capped off the scoring in the inning with a two-run homer to left.

The J.V. Raiders will try to keep their undefeated season going on Thursday when they host Scotland. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

n Contact sports editor David Vantress at 997-3111, ext. 14 or via email at dvantress@yourdailyjournal.com.