Raiders begin district play by downing St. Al’s

After defeating Adams County Christian School by a score of 11-6 on March 16, the Riverfield Raiders, now with a 4-3 record, faced moving on to district play on March 21.

District action will continue through April 21. Each week a three game series will be played until the Raiders have faced all five of their district opponents.

In the first district series, the Raiders face the St. Aloysius Flashes of Vicksburg.

Traveling to Vicksburg on March 21, the Raiders played a double header to being the series. St. Al came into the series with an 11-0 record and defeated the Raiders in game one of the double header by a score of 10-0. The Raiders fought back, however, and took the second game of the double header by a score of 11-5. The win gave St. Al their first loss of the season and the Raiders headed home with the three game series tied at one game a piece.

On March 23, St. Al traveled to Raider Stadium for the final game of the series. The Raiders won game three by a score of 8-1, giving them a 2-1 district record after their first week in district action.

In game three of the series, freshman Cayden Martin was the winning pitcher. Martin pitched all seven innings of the game. Martin gave up four hits in the first inning when the Flashes scored their only run of the game. After that, the Flashes were virtually shut down by good, solid defensive playing by the Raiders. Only two other times on the night did St. Al have a runner in scoring position.

Once in the fourth inning and once again in the seventh. Martin struck out two and walked four batters in the contest.

At the plate in game three, Raiders bats came to life early on. All eight of the Raider runs were scored in the first three innings of the game. After that, it was a defensive match by both teams. Both Spencer Daniel and Austin Salsbury hit doubles. Cayden Martin singled twice. Brier Williamson and Ty Skeldon helped advance runners into scoring position in the early innings also.

The Raiders will be in district action again this week with a three game series against the Hartfield Hawks. Game one will be played March 28 at Riverfield. The Raiders will travel to Flowood, Miss., for a double header on March 30.

The Raiders, now 6-4 overall on the season, are coached by Head Coach Rodney Traweek and Assistant Coach Marc Simmons.