ROCKINGHAM — Although Wednesday marked the first official day of spring, the Richmond athletic department’s spring programs are almost four full weeks into their respective regular-season schedules.

The softball and girls track and field teams have dominated the competition, the baseball and girls soccer teams have five wins each and are among the best in the Sandhills Athletic Conference, the boys track and field team put its speed on display in last week’s season opener, and both the boys golf and tennis teams have shown their potential in the early going.

There’s still more than a month left in each teams’ season, but here’s a look into what they’ve done so far:

SOFTBALL

The Lady Raiders are off to their best start in four years (they won their first nine in 2015) with a perfect 7-0 overall record and a 5-0 mark in conference play. They lead the state with 18 home runs — 17 of them coming in their last five games.

Taylor Parrish has a team-high five dingers, Greyson Way has sent four over the fence, Paige Ransom has gone yard three times, both Kayla Hawkins and Savannah Lampley have two and Payton Chappell and Allexis Swiney each have one.

There was a recent four-game span where the Lady Raiders had multiple players hit at least one long ball. They finished with five homers — one shy of the program record for most in a game — in back-to-back mercy-rule wins last week.

Next up for the softball team is part two of its much-anticipated matchups with Jack Britt on Friday. The Lady Raiders held on for a 10-7 win over the reigning state champs on Tuesday, but will need to do a better job of closing in the rematch.

GIRLS T&F

Head coach Reggie Miller and the Lady Raider track and field team opened the season with a first-place finish at the Alton Tyre Invitational Relays a couple of weeks ago and then “won big” at their first conference meet at New Century last week.

Ariel Brown, Jakerra Covington, Zamia McInnis, Kibreanna Stewart, Jardai Tillman and Taliah Wall are the six individuals who have won at least one individual event so far this season. The 4×100-, 4×200-, 4×400- and 4×800-relay teams all swept their races at the SAC meet. The 4×1 and the 4×1 weightman relay both came in first in the season opener.

Covington, a sophomore who hadn’t competed in jumping events prior to this year, has already qualified for regionals in the high and long jumps. The 4×1 and 4×2 relays teams also qualified for regionals thanks to last week’s efforts.

The Lady Raiders will be looking for their third consecutive No. 1 finish when they visit Pinecrest on Thursday.

BASEBALL

The Raiders have put themselves in good position to win their first conference title since the 2016 season. They are 4-1 in SAC play and tied atop the standings with Pinecrest, which they split with last week, after beating Jack Britt on Tuesday.

Jake Ransom has been the biggest threat at the plate, as he has two grand slams and a team-high 11 RBI on the season. He was the only Richmond player with a home run until Cam Carraway launched a two-run shot in the win over Jack Britt.

Both Carraway and Garet Weigman lead the Raiders with seven hits a piece. Hunter Parris has four wins on the mound, racking up 19 strikeouts and only allowing 14 hits, four walks and one earned run in 24 innings pitched.

Round 2 against the Buccaneers on Friday will be a chance for Richmond (5-3 overall) to sweep another conference opponent and move a step closer to claiming the coveted SAC championship.

GIRLS SOCCER

The Lady Raiders are feeling good after blanking Hoke County — its first conference loss — to start the week and then using a five-goal effort to take down Lumberton on Tuesday, which now sits them firmly in second place in the standings.

Jessi Graham scored twice in the shutout win over the Bucks. Morgan Hooks and Carley Lambeth, who was celebrating her birthday, netted two goals a piece and Jayla McDougald scored her first career varsity goal in the win over the Pirates.

Kaitlyn Huff leads the Lady Raiders with five goals on the season. Graham, Hooks and Lambeth each have three while Valery Standridge and Chloe Wiggins have each seen two of their shots go into the back of the net.

Richmond (5-2, 4-1 SAC) has won its last three SAC games will try to make it four in a row at Seventy-First on Friday.

BOYS T&F

The Richmond boys didn’t compete alongside the girls at the Alton Tyre Invitational Relays, so last week’s conference meet at New Century was the first of the season for head coach Chris Campolieta’s new-look squad.

Preston Coker ran a blazing 21.44 in the 200-meter dash and clocked in a 10.75 in the 100m. Joerail White threw a personal-record 125 feet in the discus, Trevor Moss placed first in the 400m run and the 4×1 relay team ran a 42.38.

“Really proud of our guys today,” Campolieta tweeted following the meet. “It was the first meet for many of them and they competed extremely hard! Great group of young men!”

The Raiders will also be headed to Pinecrest for another SAC meet on Thursday.

BOYS GOLF

First-year head coach Keith Parsons and the boys golf team have placed fifth in both of their matches.

Jonathan Rich is showing why he was the team’s No. 1 golfer as a freshman, as he led the Raiders with a 77 in the opener in Raeford and then shot an 87 to led the way once again in the team’s second match in Fayetteville.

Holding down the two and three spots are Jacob Puckett, who tied his career-low round with a 92 on Tuesday, and Carter Richardson, who shot an 85 last week. Noah Altman and Jaxon Mabe have finished in a tie both times out.

Richmond is scheduled to play at the Pinecrest Country Club and Golf Course next Monday, Mar. 25.

BOYS TENNIS

It hasn’t been the best start to the 2019 campaign, but the Raiders (2-5, 2-3 SAC) have played some stiff competition. They were blanked by Union Pines (twice) and Pinecrest in the first two weeks and got shut out by Lumberton on Tuesday.

Richmond’s only wins were a close 5-4 triumph at Purnell Swett and a 7-2 home victory over Hoke County.

Mason Bailey leads the Raiders with three wins in singles play while Bradford Pittman has two. Kevin Campos, Karym Ojeda and Alex Yates each have won one singles. Ojeda and Yates have teamed up for two wins in the No. 3 doubles.

Richmond will look to earn bragging rights when rival Scotland visits next Tuesday, Mar. 26.

Leon Hargrove Jr. | Daily Journal
Richmond’s Bradford Pittman prepares for a serve during a match against Union Pines on Monday, Mar. 4, 2019. Pittman, a sophmore, has secured two wins at the No. 2 singles spot this season.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_pittmanc-1.jpgLeon Hargrove Jr. | Daily Journal
Richmond’s Bradford Pittman prepares for a serve during a match against Union Pines on Monday, Mar. 4, 2019. Pittman, a sophmore, has secured two wins at the No. 2 singles spot this season.

Leon Hargrove Jr. | Daily Journal Richmond’s Maddisyn Diggs, left, goes to hand Jakerra Covington the baton during a practice session on Monday, Mar. 4, 2019. Diggs, a junior, and Covington, a sophomore, are members of the Lady Raider track and field’s 4×100-meter relay team that has placed first in both meets this season.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_girls-1.jpgLeon Hargrove Jr. | Daily Journal Richmond’s Maddisyn Diggs, left, goes to hand Jakerra Covington the baton during a practice session on Monday, Mar. 4, 2019. Diggs, a junior, and Covington, a sophomore, are members of the Lady Raider track and field’s 4×100-meter relay team that has placed first in both meets this season.
Raider athletics seeing success 4 weeks into season

By Leon Hargrove Jr.

Sports Editor

Reach sports editor Leon Hargrove Jr. by phone at 910-817-2673 or by email at [email protected]. For stories, scores and updates, follow the Daily Journal’s sports section on Twitter @RCDailySports.