Raiders see baseball, softball wins

The Midway Raiders enjoyed success on the diamonds late last week, notching a win in softball on Thursday night and a blowout in baseball on Friday evening. The girls were at West Johnston for their bout, notching the 5-3 win. The boys were at home in their match-up, routing the Southern Wayne Saints 12-2 to enjoy their weekend.

Softball

The Lady Raiders picked up their second-straight win on Thursday night, rallying past West Johnston to get above .500 as their tumultuous non-conference schedule continues to roll along. After trailing 2-0 about halfway through the contest, Midway finally got their bats rolling and picked up a 5-3 victory over the Lady Wildcats.

West Johnson held the Lady Raiders to three up, three down in the first, turning a double play in the process to quickly shut Midway down. Then in the bottom of the first, the Lady Wildcats picked up their first run, a SAC RBI into right field from Savannah Hall to score Laney Pearce.

After a quiet second inning, West Johnson picked up another run in the bottom of the third, as Pearce whacked an inside the park home run into left field, making it 2-0.

Fortune finally smiled on the Lady Raiders in the top of the fourth when they finally generated a run a small 2-out rally. Peyton Herring hit a single into left field and stole second base moments later. Jordan Christopher sent a shot toward second baseman Jazmin Rummel, who committed an error that allowed all runners safe and Herring scoring to make it 2-1.

After Midway held West Johnson to three up, three down in the bottom of the fourth, the Lady Raiders pieced together another run, again on a 2-out rally, to tie the game up. Macy Raynor drew a walk and advanced to second base on a passed ball. Ives laid down a single into left field, moving Raynor over to third base. With Sam Carter at the plate, a passed ball moved both runners, resulting in Raynor scoring the tying run.

Midway again forced a three up, three down in the bottom of the fifth and no runs were scored in the sixth, despite chances for both teams.

With that, the game entered the seventh inning with the score still tied up at 2-2. That’s where the Lady Raiders found a ton of success, scoring three runs to blow the game open. The inning started out appearing as if it was going to be a fairly routine inning after Kyleigh Stonerock suffered an infield fly out. But on Midway’s next at-bat, Kara Beth Benton singled into right field and Raynor followed suit with a single into center. Ives drew a walk and suddenly the bases were loaded with one. Sam Carter stepped up to the plate and sent a line drive into right field, scoring Benton to make it 3-2. Mollie Bass suffered an out after a line drive to short, but the Lady Raiders still weren’t done. Herring hit a double into center field, scoring both Raynor and Ives to make it 5-2. The Lady Wildcats finally got out of the jam but the damage had been done.

Midway quickly picked up the first two outs in the bottom of the seventh but West Johnston did piece together some offense to pick up one run. Outside of that, though, the Lady Raiders held them off and held on for the 5-3 victory.

Herring was the leader at the plate on Thursday with three hits and two RBIs. Ives had two hits and Raynor and Benton each had one hit. Carter also added a hit and an RBI.

Stonerock went the distance in the circle, getting 13 strikeouts against three hits, six walks, and three runs.

With the win, Midway is now 2-1 on the season. They have just one game this week, a matchup with Harnett Central on Thursday.

Baseball

Under the lights Friday night, the baseball team put up big numbers to bring itself back to an even .500 record after dropping two in a row.

The Saints grabbed two singles to start their half of the first inning, and Camden Wilson walked another to load the bases early for Southern Wayne. A passed ball scored the runner from third, giving the Saints the 1-0 advantage early. After another walk by Wilson, he retired the side on a 6-4-3 double play from Carson Tew to Wilson Mayo to Harry Johnson, keeping Southern Wayne’s damage to a minimum.

Mayo and Tew were the first two Raider batters, each taking a walk in the bottom of the first. Tanner Williams was next up, who was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Midway. Wyatt Herring ripped a single to the shortstop, scoring Mayo and moving Tew and Williams up a base each. Scott followed that up with a single to right, scoring Tew and Williams to make it a 3-1 lead for the hosts and pushing Herring to third — all before Southern Wayne could record an out.

The first out for Midway came on a grounder from Johnson. Five more runs would cross the plate before Midway’s side of the first inning was over, making it an 8-1 advantage for the Raiders as their bats were lively.

Wilson sent down the Saint batters in 1-2-3 order in the second, with a pop out from the first and two consecutive looking strikeouts. Midway faced the same fate in the second, with Scott and Johnson both hitting groundouts to the third baseman and Wilson striking out swinging.

Southern Wayne scored its second and final run of the game in the top of the third, as the runner reached second and third on wild pitches after singling in the inning’s first at-bat, ultimately scoring on a sacrifice single.

Like the second inning, Midway was sent down 1-2-3 for its half of the third inning. Luke Peterson flew out in the first at-bat of the side, Harrison Honeycutt grounded out, and Mayo struck out swinging. The score sat at 8-2 as Midway was held scoreless and hitless for two consecutive innings after its bombshell first inning.

Wyatt Herring came in as the relief pitcher to start the fourth for the Raiders, giving up a single and a walk to the first two batters he faced. The senior fireman worked himself out of the jam on the mound, tossing two strikeouts and getting another out via sacrifice bunt, giving up no runs in the inning.

The bats came alive for Midway once more in the bottom of the fourth, with Tew and Williams singling to start the inning and Herring taking the full-count walk to load the ducks on the pond for the Raiders with no outs. Williams, Cameron Register, and Ethan Martin scored in the fourth to give the Raiders the 12-2 advantage.

Williams came in as the closing pitcher and he did his job well, retiring the side once more in 1-2-3 fashion to close out Midway’s second win of the season.

Wilson was credited with the win on the night. He had three innings pitched, two earned runs, two walks, and three strikeouts. Herring tossed just one inning, giving up a hit, a walk, and two strikeouts. Williams, as the closer, had another inning pitched, no hits, no runs, no walks, and a strikeout to his name.

Carson Tew was Midway’s best hitter, going 2-for-2 with two runs, an RBI, and a walk. Williams, Herring, Scott, and Johnson all had a hit apiece, with Herring scoring an RBI and Scott and Johnson each grabbing two.

Moving to 2-2, the Raiders have a four-game road trip, starting with North Lenoir Wednesday, West Johnston Thursday, South Lenoir next Monday, and Cape Fear next Wednesday. Their next home game is next Thursday against North Lenoir.