ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond Rattlers played through light showers early Wednesday evening in order to grab their second win in as many days over Pinecrest, earning a 13-3 home victory in just five innings.
Rising senior Brett Young got Richmond on the scoreboard with an RBI double in the bottom of first, which tied the game 1-1, and Jake Ransom — also entering his final year at Richmond Senior High School — closed things out with an two-run single at the bottom of the fifth with the bases loaded.
The Rattlers are now 2-2 in Central Carolina Scholastic Summer League play.
“I thought we’ve swung the bats really well both days,” head coach Ricky Young said. “We’ve had some good approaches at the plate and we’ve been able to get some big hits and put runners in scoring position.”
Following Brett Young’s early RBI, Richmond was able to plate two more runs before the first inning came to an end. A bases-loaded walk pushed the home team ahead and then Ransom hustled home from third base on a wild pitch.
Nothing happened for Pinecrest at the top of the second and the Rattlers took advantage in the bottom half of the inning, as Ransom recorded his first 2-RBI single of the game — which tightly rolled down the third-base line before being called fair — and Cam Carraway brought in a runner with a base hit to give them a 6-1 lead after two.
Pinecrest made some noise at the top of the third with a two-run double, but that was all it could manage.
Richmond’s third-inning efforts were highlighted by another Brett Young hit, this time a two-RBI double. It couldn’t find a rhythm in the fourth, but found some in the fifth after scoring on back-to-back bases-loaded walks.
“All of our lineup has swung the bat really well … and that’s what it’s going to take next year,” Ricky Young said. “We lost a lot of pitching, so we know we’re going to have to throw strikes on the mound, play good defense and score a lot of runs.”
Rising senior Evan Hudson started on the mound for the Rattlers on Wednesday and was relieved by Tyler Bass at the top of the fifth.
“They’ve done really well,” Ricky Young said of the pitchers who have thrown so far during summer league. “It’s going to be more of a comittee next year. We’ve got several guys who can pitch who we’re confident in, so our focus will be, this summer and into next year, to just throw strikes.”
Richmond will play Scotland three times in three days next week, traveling to Laurinburg twice (Tuesday, June 26 and Thursday, June 28) and welcoming the Scots to Rockingham once (Wednesday, June 27).