The Richmond Raiders will head out on the road to square off against the Pinecrest Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Richmond sitting on three straight victories and Pinecrest on five.
While Richmond's win against Lee County wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Raiders skirted past the Yellow Jackets 4-2.
The team relied heavily on Evan Hodges, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with one double.
Meanwhile, Pinecrest made easy work of Southern Lee on Tuesday and carried off an 8-1 victory.
Pinecrest also got a great performance from Bohdi Robertson as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out six over 4.2 innings pitched. Robertson has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in four consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Will Chopping was a standout: he went a perfect 3-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI. Another player making a difference was JC Woolard, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.
Pinecrest kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Southern Lee only managed two hits.
Pinecrest's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 18-7. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Richmond, their record is now 16-9.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Richmond has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Pinecrest struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.1 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
