No. 5 Scots come up short against No. 4 Richmond in SAC consolation tourney champ.

ROCKINGHAM — The No. 5 Scotland baseball team (15-8, 7-6 Sandhills Athletic Conference) fell 11-9 against the No. 4 Richmond Raiders (14-10, 7-6 SAC) Thursday night in the SAC consolation tournament championship.

The Scots were up 3-1 at the end of the first inning before the Raiders scored eight runs in the second to take a 9-3 lead. The Scots answered with two runs each in the third and fourth innings, as well as one in the fifth, which closed their deficit to 9-8. The Raiders made it 11-8 in the bottom of the fifth and the Scots added a run in the seventh but three straight outs afterwards ended the game.

Dawson Williams, Britt Lowe, and Alex Hatcher each had a pair of runs for the Scots, and Cadyn Graves, Blane Wagner, and Turner Bounds all scored one; Hatcher led the Scots in hits with three, while Williams and Graves each supplied two, and Garrett Manning, Jake Clemmons, Eli McCoy, and Bounds all had one apiece. Manning and Graves both had two RBI and Williams, Hatcher, and Clemmons each had one.

Bounds started and pitched 1 1/3 innings for the Scots, allowing nine runs on eight hits with a walk, suffering the loss; Dylan Tucker and Hatcher pitched in relief of Bounds.

James Eason took the win for Richmond, allowing eight runs on 11 hits with two walks and four strikeouts in six innings pitched; Caden Nolan pitched an inning out of the bullpen.

Camron Seagraves, Zaviar Lowry, and Landon Taylor each scored two runs for the Raiders, and Issac Hinshaw, Ethan Clayton, Ashton Phifer, and Eason all had one; Lowry led the Raiders with three hits and tied the team-lead with two RBI, with Phifer also brought in a pair of runners.

The Scots now wait for playoff seeding and pairings on Monday, when they are announced by the NCHSAA. The Scots entered Thursday ranked 14th in the NCHSAA RPI rankings for the 3A East Region, which means they are well into the projected playoff field.