Post Photo by Rickey Clardy Elijah Westbrooks delivers a pitch for the Vikings.
By RICKEY CLARDY
Sports Writer
UNIONVILLE — The Community Vikings cut a 6-run deficit to three midway through their game against the Richland Raiders, but the Raiders extended their lead and the Vikings couldn’t recover as Community dropped a 13-5 baseball contest Tuesday night.
After the Raiders scored two runs in the opening inning, Community (1-3) narrowed the margin with a single run in the bottom of the second.
With one out, Thomas Bowling doubled and Nic Evans singled to put runners on the corners.
Isaiah Beech followed with a sacrifice bunt to plate the first Viking run and cut the Richland lead to 2-1.
A five-run fourth extended the Raider lead to 7-1 before the Vikings battled back in the bottom of the inning with three consecutive run-scoring hits after two were out.
Bowling walked to lead-off the inning and Kaleb Maillet singled with two outs to extend the inning.
Singles by Maki Fleming, Josh Powers, and Jaxson Roberts all plated runs as the Raiders ended the inning with a 7-4 advantage.
The Raiders upped their lead to 10-4 with two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth before the Vikings scored their final run of the night in the bottom of the sixth.
A single by Maillet and a walk to Powers set the stage for a sacrifice fly by Drew Harris as the Raiders took a 10-5 lead to the seventh inning.
Richland scored three insurance runs in the seventh to close out the scoring.
The Vikings had nine hits, with Bowling and Maillet each accounting for two safeties.
Elijah Westbrooks started on the mound for the Vikings with Wes Haley in relief in the fourth inning.
The teams close out their two-game series with a game at Richland on Wednesday.
Richland 2005213 —13 14 0
Community 0103010 — 5 11 7
Community: Kaleb Maillet 2-for-3, Thomas Bowling 2-for-3, Maki Fleming 1-for-3, Josh Powers 1-for-3, Jaxson Roberts 1-for-2, Luke Davis 1-for-3, Nic Evans 1-for-4.
LP: Elijah Westbrooks.
