Fresh off an upset win against Bunn, Roanoke Rapids made the trip down I-95 to take on No. 6-seed Midway on Friday. With another upset in mind, Midway was having none of it. The Raiders stormed out to a 6-0 first inning lead and never looked back, picking up an impressive 17-0 win over the Yellow Jackets.
Having earned a name of grinding out close wins over the last several games, Midway finally broke out of a slump and dropped the hammer in dominating fashion. The Raiders had also had a streak of opening up comfortable leads only to find themselves having to withstand rallies, but again, Midway unleashed their frustrations on the Jackets.
Midway earned six hits on the night and was equally successful in drawing nine walks as Roanoke Rapids was battling pitching issues.
Chandler Williford and Austin Peterson both contributed two hits for Midway with both also picking up two RBIs. Brayden Coats and Colby Pope picked up the other hits for the Raiders.
Midway earned four more runs in the third to reach the 10-0 mark early. They made it 11-0 in the third before blowing the game open in the fourth with six more runs to make it 17-0.
The Yellow Jackets had a couple of scattered opportunities but each time the Midway defense stood tall.
Williford was the winning pitcher as he gave up no runs on one hit and one walk. He struck out five. Calcutt finished the game and gave up no runs.
After the game, Midway coach Jason Fussell expressed the key to Midway finally breaking out of their slump.
“We hit the ball well,” Fussell said. “Their number one pitched the other night, their number two was out with a concussion, so we did what we had to against their three, four and five. Chandler wanted the ball tonight on the mound and he did great. We get to move on”, he concluded.
With the win, Midway is now 18-5 overall. They are scheduled to face off in the third round against the winner of Greene Central and Randleman, who meet Saturday. A Greene Central win would mean Midway would be the host. With a Randleman win, the Raiders would have to travel to take on the Tigers. Game time and location is to be determined.
