Richmond Sr. summer pitcher Ryan Mercer delivers to the plate during the Raiders’ 7-4 win over Scotland Thursday afternoon at Raider Field. The Raiders earned the No. 1 seed in their Central Carolina Summer Scholastic League playoff bracket and will open the playoffs next Thursday night at Pinecrest.
Tuesday night at Raider Field, the Richmond senior summer baseball team was struggling against Scotland, trailing 3-0 and headed to bat in the bottom of the third.
Then the thunderstorm that had been threatening since the game started finally unleashed its lightning, causing the game to be suspended and rescheduled for Thursday night.
In between, the Raiders got their bats untracked with a 10-4 win over Lumberton Wednesday night.
And Thursday night, the Raiders spotted the Scots an additional run before rallying for seven unanswered runs in a 7-4 win over Scotland.
The Raiders had already wrapped up the No. 1 seed and first-round bye in their Central Carolina Summer Scholastic League playoff bracket, which starts at Pinecrest next week. But with the win, they eliminated the Scots from the playoffs.
Thursday night, the Raiders began to scratch back in the bottom of the fifth. Austin Brower led off with a single, and Jordan Tucker sacrificed him to second. With two outs, Ryan Mercer drew a walk. Andy Shuler drew a walk to load the bases, and Brower came home on a passed ball to finally get the Raiders on the scoreboard.
The uprising continued in the bottom of the sixth. Chandler Conner got things going with a leadoff bunt single. Dylan Turner reached on an infield single. Luke Bullard plated Conner and Turner with a two-RBI single to bring the Raiders to within one at 4-3.
Alex Dockery also reached on a buunt single.
And then, it was the hot-hitting Brower coming to the plate. Brower, who clubbed two three-run homers Wednesday night against Lumberton, came through in the clutch once again, recording his fifth straight hit over two games with a two-RBI double to put Richmond on top, 5-4.
Richmond coach Ricky Young said it was the same kind of character his team has shown all summer.
“We’ve won a number of games in the late innings,” Young said. “This team doesn’t quit.”
Contact sports editor David Vantress at 997-3111, ext. 14 or via email at dvantress@yourdailyjournal.com.
Post a Comment
