Lady Raiders build momentum ahead of postseason

RICHMOND — Despite falling 5-1 to Union Pines Tuesday night, Richmond County coach Mike Way felt his team made an about-face from the team that fell to Southern Lee County 16-1 earlier this week.

Lady Raider pitcher Madelyn Pearson held the Lady Vikings scoreless through four innings, but a late Union Pines rally spoiled the night.

“We missed some chances. [Pearson] pitched really well. To hold them to five runs, well two through six (innings), is really the more impressive part. A couple of outs there, and there were a couple of runs that got away from us. A 2-1 game going into the sixth, honestly, especially the way we played [Monday], we played really well tonight, but they were just a little bit better,” Richmond coach Mike Way said.

Pearson finished the night with two strikeouts, two walks and four earned runs over seven innings of work while also driving in the Lady Raiders’ only RBI of the night in the sixth inning. Although held to a single run, Richmond’s batters had a respectable day with catcher Christy Jacobs, third baseman Hayden Robinson and second baseman Emma Rusich batting .500 over two plate appearances.

“We’re a little bit Jekyll and Hyde. You don’t really know which team is going to show up. It was a step in the right direction for sure, but we still have some work to do. You got to keep pushing. Use the last couple of regular season games to get ready for the conference tournament playoffs and try to be our best when it gets to that time,” Way said.