Wyatt Lucas sends a shot into right field for one of his two hits.
Daron Barefoot|Sampson Independent
Raiders take down Red Devils on diamond, 5-2
Camden Wilson is caught trying to steal second base.
Daron Barefoot|Sampson Independent
Luke Peterson snags a foul ball for an out behind the plate.
Daron Barefoot|Sampson Independent
The Midway Raiders completed a season sweep of Red Springs on Friday night, improving their overall season record and inching closer to a Southeastern Athletic Conference championship. After blistering the Red Devils on Tuesday by the 17-2 score, the Raiders enjoyed another win on Friday night, albeit much closer, at 5-2.
It was Red Springs that got on the board first on Friday night, getting an early, and short-lived, 1-0 lead. A leadoff walk and an error in the infield assisted in the Red Devils scoring first.
Midway, though, came right back in the bottom of the inning and grabbed the lead for good. Carson Tew drew a 1-out walk to get things started. John McLamb followed behind him and got a hit into right field, where an error allowed Tew to score and McLamb to advance all the way over to third. Wyatt Lucas laid down a ground ball that was good for a single and scored McLamb for a Raiders 2-1 lead. Tripp Westbrook also got a hit that put both he and Lucas in scoring position, but a line out and ground out quickly ended the inning and stranded the runners.
The top of the second was much more successful for Midway as they generated a fast three up, three down to put the bats right back in their hands. A 2-out error enabled Wyatt Herring to get aboard, putting him at second base and a line drive into center field by Tew scored Herring to make it 3-1.
It was another three up, three down in the top of the third for the Raiders and the game was moving right along. They again added another run in the bottom of the third, this time on back-to-back hits by Lucas and Westbrook. Lucas hit a leadoff double into right field to get things started and Westbrook followed up with his own hit into right field to score Lucas, making it 4-1.
The Red Devils finally found a little more success in the fourth inning, getting back-to-back hits with two outs to produce a run, making it 4-2, but that just wasn’t enough as time was running out. Midway got that run back in the bottom of the fourth with Tew and McLamb hooking up again to generate the run. Tew got a single into the outfield and took second base on a wild pitch. McLamb got a hit into left field, allowing Tew to score to make it 5-2.
From there it was all defense the rest of the way as the Raiders hung on for the 5-2 victory.
Leading their efforts were Lucas, Tew, and Westbrook who were all credited with two hits each. Wyatt Scott and McLamb each recorded one hit apiece.
Midway is now 15-5 overall and 7-1 in conference play. Just one win this week against St. Pauls will lock up the conference championship for the Raiders. Those games are slated for Tuesday night at Midway and Friday night at St. Pauls.