Every team needs strong leadership.

For the 10-1 Richmond Senior junior varsity baseball team, that leadership this season starts with a trio of juniors: Nathan Cain, Cody Brown and Andrew Henderson.

All three played key roles in the J.V. Raiders’ latest victory, a 13-3 five-inning run-rule triumph over Lumberton Friday afternoon at Raider Field.

Cain got his first start of the year on the mound and went the distance to earn the win. He also had a three-run double.

Brown had three hits. And Henderson, after starting the game off right with a wonderful acapella version of the national anthem, was 1-for-1 with a sacrifice fly. He was also hit by a pitch.

The trio, who might be seen as the J.V. Raiders’ elder statesmen, said they knew they would be expected to step up and lead.

“It’s been a great experience so far,” Henderson said. “We’ve had a great season, and we’ve learned how to be leaders.”

Brown, meanwhile, gives much of the credit for the Raiders’ stellar season to coach Sam Williams. “He’s given us a real good foundation in the fundamentals,” Brown said.

And Cain said he and his fellow juniors have taken it upon themselves to lead. “We try to keep everyone up,” Cain said.

Friday night’s game was the last home contest for the J.V. Raiders in 2010.

The next time the trio take to Raider Field, they hope it’s as part of the varsity squad as seniors.

Friday night, once again, the J.V. Raiders had their bats in sync. Richmond sent nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the first, getting out to a quick 3-1 advantage. Austin Brower led off with a double to left.

He was sacrificed to third by Andrew Henderson. Ryan Mercer plated Brower with a single, A Cody Brown single put runners at first and second, and a Jordan Tucker RBI single gave the J.V. Raiders a 2-0 lead. A Todd Inman walk loaded the bases, and then with two outs, Alex Clark closed out the inning’s scoring with an RBI single.

The J.V. Raiders added to their lead in the home half of the second.

Again it was Brower starting the uprising. He beat out an infield single, went to second on a wild pitch and stole third. A pair of walks loaded the bases, and then Brown drove in a run with a fielder’s choice. Three batters later, it was starting pitcher Nathan Cain helping his own cause with a bases-clearing double that gave Richmond a 7-1 advantage,

Lumberton added a pair of runs in the top of the third to draw back to within four at 7-3.

But the Raiders were not done. They added four runs in the bottom of the third, then reached the 10-run threshold with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth on run-scoring singles by Brown and Tucker.

Richmond wraps up the 2010 season next week with road games at Pinecrest on Tuesday and Scotland on Thursday.

J.V. Softball

Richmond 16, Lumberton 1

Earlier, the J.V. Lady Raiders put up 10 first-inning runs en route to the three-inning 15-run-rule victory over the J.V. Lady Pirates.

Cierra Bowden was dominating in the circle for Richmond, striking out eight of 10 batters faced. Caroline Kirkland, Kylie King, Destiny Shoe and Morgan Jedder each had doubles.

The J.V. Lady Raiders improved to 10-0 overall (5-0 SEC). Richmond is idle until next Friday when the J.V. Lady Raiders will travel to Scotland.



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