RICHMOND — Inclement weather wasn’t going to stop the Richmond baseball team from picking up its first win of the season Tuesday afternoon.
Instead, the Bobcats cruised to a 10-2 victory over Old Orchard Beach in a Class C/D crossover game.
Connor Vachon led the Bobcats (1-1) both on the mound and at the plate. Vachon earned the win by going five innings, allowing two runs on five hits and striking out five batters. Zander Steele threw two scoreless innings of relief to close out the game.
“It feels pretty good (to get the first win),” Vachon said.
Vachon managed to hit most of his spots in spite of a steady rain that stayed throughout.
“My grandfather was here, he’s my biggest supporter,” Vachon said. “I just kept hearing him the background (while pitching). I tried to wipe that ball off as best I could. I tried to stick with just a couple (different) pitches.”
“I don’t think I could have thrown today,” Richmond head coach Ryan Gardner said. “He threw five solid innings. We had Zander ready to close it out.”
Old Orchard Beach shortstop Derrick Webber reaches to to try to take out Richmond’s Zander Steele at second base during a baseball game Tuesday in Richmond. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
At the plate, Vachon went 2 for 2, with a double and three RBIs.
Richmond’s biggest offensive inning came in the fourth. Up 4-2 entering the inning, the Bobcats managed to add four more runs, including an RBI single by Chance Taylor.
Taylor had two hits, including a double, for Richmond and Wyatt Cassidy went 3 for 4 with an RBI.
It was the second straight crossover game for Richmond, which fell 5-3 to Sacopee Valley in the season opener on Saturday. The Bobcats are one of just six baseball teams in Class D South this season.
“(The crossover games) are an excellent challenge for us,” Gardner said. “Class D has just been whittled down to a few teams, so we loaded up some C teams to get some quality games (on the schedule).”
The Bobcats return most of their lineup this season, having lost shortstop and pitcher Andrew Vachon to graduation.
“Fortunately, for this year, I have five freshmen who can (pitch),” Gardner said. “So, when you have a senior, junior and five freshmen who can throw, you can eat up some innings. And they all throw strikes. But (Vachon) located great today, and we played defense.”
The Seagulls (1-1) managed to score their two runs in the third inning, both coming off a two-run single by pitcher James Erickson. On the mound, Erickson fought through control issues and struck out seven batters in 3 2/3 innings of work.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
