No. 5 Lady Raiders upset No. 4 Lee County in conference tournament opener

SANFORD — The third time was the charm for the Richmond Senior High School softball team Monday.

Playing in the opening round of the Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament, the No. 5 Lady Raiders pulled off the upset of No. 4 Lee County High School.

It was the third time this season that Richmond and the Lady Yellow Jackets played, and after dropping the first two, the Lady Raiders won 7-2.

Richmond snapped a five-game losing streak Monday, scoring six of its runs between the fifth and sixth innings.

In the circle for the Lady Raiders, junior Maddie Pearson had one of her best outings of the season with run support to back it up.

Pearson pitched a complete game and held Lee County (6-11) to just three hits. She gave up one earned run and struck out 10 batters while stranding seven runners on base.

With two outs in the top of the first inning, sophomore Hayden Robinson belted an RBI double to left field, one of her two hits, to score senior Ryelan Lyerly (single).

With Richmond leading 1-0, Pearson and Lee County pitcher Savanna Mullins traded zeroes until the top of the fifth. Mullins, who also threw a complete game, allowed seven runs on 10 hits and had 11 Ks.

A four-run top of the fifth broke the game open for Richmond, which started with an RBI double from Emma Rusich, her first of two doubles. Barreling the ball to right field, Rusich plated senior Addyson Hollingsworth (hit-by-pitch).

Lyerly, who had a game-high three hits, made it 3-0 with an RBI infield base knock in the next at-bat. Following a walk to Robinson to load the bases, Pearson helped herself with a sacrifice fly to center.

Senior Christi Jacobs capped the big inning with an RBI single to the right side of the field, giving Lyerly a chance to race home and make it 5-0.

With one away in the sixth, an error by Lee County and another RBI double from Rusich put the Lady Raiders ahead by their largest margin of the game, 7-0.

Lee County scored two runs in the home half on an RBI groundout and a passed ball.

In the bottom of the seventh with two away, two singles put runners on base for the Lady Yellow Jackets. Pearson stopped the comeback attempt with a flyout to Hollingsworth in center.

The Lady Raiders (7-10) will travel to No. 1 Scotland High School (16-1) Tuesday and try to hand the Lady Scots their first conference loss of the year.

First pitch is set for 6 p.m. in Laurinburg.