Addison Johnson (2) rounds second base during Scotland’s win over the Raiders on Thursday night at Scotland High School. Johnson went 3-4 from the plate with two RBIs and three runs scored.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
Addison Lewis (5) fouls off a pitch. Lewis went 1-3 with a run scored.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
Avery Stutts throws a pitch. Stutts pitched all four innings and had 11 strikeouts.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
Dawson Williams puts the ball in play. Williams went 2-4 batting with an RBI and a run scored.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
Bryson McCarter (3) runs down the first base line after laying down a bunt.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
Robbie Peed (12) throws a pitch. Peed pitched 3.2 innings and had two strikeouts.
Andrew Smolar | The Laurinburg Exchange
LAURINBURG —The Scotland softball team concluded their 2025 regular season with a 15-0 victory over the Richmond Raiders on Thursday night at Scotland High School. The Scots finish the regular season at 18-1 (11-0 in conference games) with their 17th consecutive win while Richmond finishes 8-13 (5-7 against conference opponents) with the loss. With the win, Scotland won the SAC title for the fourth consecutive year and has gone 47-1 against conference opponents over that span.
“We had a great week this week, big conference wins against Lee and Richmond, and this group of seniors made history here they’re the only class to ever win four straight conference championships,” Head Coach Adam Romaine said. “We were tested Tuesday with Freedom, I’m glad we picked that game up because that’s a playoff mentality game.”
After Richmond went down in order in the top of the first, the Scots would take advantage with two runs in their half of the inning. A leadoff single from Addison Johnson and an RBI triple from Dawson Blue gave Scotland the lead. A one-out RBI single from Emily Sampson would make it 2-0.
After a scoreless second frame, the Scots would blow the game open with an eight-run bottom of the third. They would send 12 batters to the plate and rack up five hits, a walk, a hit by pitch and two fielder’s choice balls en route to the big inning.
Scotland would then complete the mercy rule requirement with five more runs in the home half of the fourth. Kinsey Hamilton got a double to leadoff the inning and scored on an RBI single from Addison Ratley before a one-out RBI double from Ramsey Hale made it 12-0. An RBI single from Johnson, a walk to Blue and a groundout from Avery Stutts that resulted in an error and scored two more runs gave the Scots the needed 15 runs to end the game.
Hale went 2-2 batting with two runs scored and led the team in RBIs with four. Sampson went 2-2 with a run scored and three RBIs while Johnson went 3-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs.
Stutts pitched all four innings and allowed just two hits while striking out 11 batters (no walks allowed). She threw 55 pitches (43 strikes) to the 16 batters she faced.
Scotland will face Red Springs at Fairmont High School on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. as part of the Robeson County Slugfest. A victory would put them against the winner of the St. Pauls/Lumberton game on Monday while a loss would put them against the loser of that contest. All games in the tournament will take place at Fairmont High School.
With the regular season now in the books, Romaine understands that crunch time for Scotland’s championship dreams is around the corner. That said, the one matchup at a time mentality will continue to be the mindset until the end of the season.
“No matter what our record is and anyone else’s record we face from this point on, we’re starting a new season,” Romaine said. “We’re just going to take it one game at a time and not overlook anybody.”
Baseball drops regular season finale to Richmond
The Scots fell to the Raiders in an 11-4 final on Thursday night at McCoy Field. Scotland finishes the regular season at 11-8 (7-5 in conference games) while Richmond moves to 13-7 (8-4 against conference opponents) with the victory. The teams split their two regular season meetings after the Scots took Tuesday’s matchup in Rockingham by a score of 4-2.
Head Coach Ricky Schattauer took a moment after the contest to recognize Scotland’s five seniors, who were honored prior to the game. He was appreciative of what they’ve been able to accomplish in their time with the Scots.
“Our five seniors have taken the lumps that we had last year, turned the page and tried to show the young guys that when you do all the small things right things start working out in your favor,” Schattauer said. “They’ve left a legacy of what this program can become.”
After a scoreless first frame with only one hit (a one-out single by Landon Taylor), Richmond grabbed the lead with two runs in the to of the second. Drew Gause got a one-out single and advanced to second on a fielding error before William Phifer added another single to put runners on the corners with one out. An RBI groundout by Devin Haynes gave the Raiders the lead while a two-out RBI single from Jake Veach made it 2-0.
Despite both teams getting a single in the third inning, no runs were scored. The Raiders would add four runs to their lead in the top of the fourth while sending eight batters to the plate. They would obtain four hits, benefit from a Scotland fielding error and also get a sacrifice fly to score the runs.
The Scots finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth with Maddox Locklear getting a leadoff single and advancing to second on a Richmond fielding error. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Locklear would score on an RBI groundout from Kaden Hunsucker to make it 6-1.
Back-to-back two-out walks, a catcher’s interference and an RBI single from Taylor reinforced the Raiders’ lead up to 7-1 in the top of the fifth. Scotland answered with a run in their half of the inning as Blane Callahan, Dylan Tilson and Dawson Williams (two-out RBI) each had singles in the frame.
The top of the sixth saw Richmond add another run thanks to three singles in four at-bats from Caden Nolan, Gause and Phifer (RBI). The Scots again answered with a run in their half of the inning thanks to a leadoff single from Garrett Manning, who would steal second and advance to third on a passed ball before scoring on an RBI groundout from Callahan. Richmond would add three more runs in the seventh frame while the Scots got one.
Williams went 2-4 batting with an RBI and a run scored. Jayden Bryant, Hunsucker and Callahan each had one RBI.
Robbie Peed (3.2 innings) and Tilson (3.1 innings) split the pitching duties. The pair combined for five strikeouts.
Scotland will face Red Springs at Fairmont High School on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. as part of the Robeson County Slugfest. A victory would put them against the winner of the St. Pauls/Lumberton game on Monday while a loss would put them against the loser of that contest. All games in the tournament will take place at Fairmont High School.
Moving forward, Schattauer is focused on finding a way to get hot over the course of the slugfest as well as the conference tournament. Despite Thursday’s tough loss, he feels confident in the group he has and their ability to turn the page in crunch time of their season.
“I’m going to take our Scotland boys over every team in the conference,” Schattauer said. “I think we have the best team when we offensively produce, our goal is to go 3-0 in this Easter tournament and then go 3-0 in the conference tournament.”