Junior Cameron Way steals home after a wild pitch to score the game-winning run Tuesday against Jack Britt.
                                 Neel Madhavan | Daily Journal

Junior Cameron Way steals home after a wild pitch to score the game-winning run Tuesday against Jack Britt.

Neel Madhavan | Daily Journal

<p>Senior Michael Pettitt (4) hits an RBI double Tuesday against Jack Britt.</p>
                                 <p>Neel Madhavan | Daily Journal</p>

Senior Michael Pettitt (4) hits an RBI double Tuesday against Jack Britt.

Neel Madhavan | Daily Journal

ROCKINGHAM — Both teams made errors Tuesday night, but the Richmond Senior High School varsity baseball team was able to capitalize late to eke out its first win of the season, beating Jack Britt 8-7.

Down 7-6 in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Raiders were able to get two runners on base with a base hit from junior Alston Johnson and a walk by junior Cameron Way, but were facing two outs after senior Tony Gathings was caught stealing and junior Matthew Walker grounded out to first base.

Then, on a wild pitch, Johnson was able to steal home to tie the game, while junior Colin Wheeler advanced to first. Finally, with junior Chandler Orr at bat, Way was able to steal home on another wild pitch to score what would be the game-winning run for the Raiders.

But, despite the win, head coach Rob Ransom was concerned about the number of errors, as well as Richmond’s struggles to make “routine plays” when fielding and playing defense.

“I just feel like we hung in there and hung in there, we didn’t play really great,” Ransom said. “We made a lot of mistakes, and made some errors that were costly both in the field and on the bases. Little things that we need to be doing that we work on, we’ve got to be confident enough during the game to execute them.”

The Raiders had four errors, while the Bucs had three.

“It’s hard to replicate a game situation (in practice),” Ransom said. “But, you’ve got to be able to make those routine plays under pressure. That’s what we’re struggling with a little bit. Until we start doing that consistently, we’re going to keep struggling. We’re still a little immature I think as a team, we’re still growing up a little bit.”

Richmond fell behind early, as the Bucs took a 3-1 lead after two innings. But the Raiders answered with five runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 6-3 lead.

The Raiders were able to work their way through the entire order. Way led off with a double, then Walker followed with a base hit. The pair then advanced to scoring position off steals with Wheeler at bat.

On a bunt, senior Hunter Hancock tallied two RBIs scoring Way and Walker after Jack Britt threw the ball away, then senior Michael Pettit and junior Will Dawkins each hit an RBI single.

“(The Bucs) made some mistakes — they threw the ball away,” said head coach Rob Ransom. “They were struggling to get a win just like us. We just put the ball in play and made them make a play and they didn’t, basically what it came down to.”

On the mound, three pitchers each threw at least two innings — junior Harley Honeycutt, Dawkins and freshman Cameron Seagraves — while junior Jude Howard came in to get the final out in the top of the seventh inning. The trio combined to strike out 10, while giving up three earned runs off six hits.

The Raiders will close out the series at Jack Britt on Friday at 7 p.m.

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Reach Neel Madhavan at 910-817-2675 ext. 2751 or [email protected]. Follow on Twitter at @NeelMadhavan.