Playing a predominantly Mountain Valley Conference Class C schedule can make it a challenge for the Raiders to rise in the Class B South standings. Oak Hill has won all but one game this season, but that’s only put them in sixth position in the rankings.

“Coming into today, we knew it was a big day,” Oak Hill coach Allyson Collins said. “Lisbon is always competitive and always has fantastic hitters. We knew it was going to be a tough one, and they’re worth a lot of points. We knew we needed the points for us. We need every win we can possibly get just to get into the playoffs.”

The Raiders took care of business with an 8-2 win over the Greyhounds on Wednesday. The win bumped the Raiders up to third in Class B South. Oak Hill’s bats continued to sizzle with nine hits. The Raiders have now scored 60 runs in the past five games while allowing just seven. 

“We know we really need to come up with hits when it’s big,” junior outfielder Charlotte Waterman said. “We can’t stay steady the whole game. We really need to pick it up and come through with that big inning. Sometimes it doesn’t always come for us right away, but we’ve been pretty lucky, it always seems to come for us.”

Waterman had three hits and two RBIs. She also made a great running catch in rightfield. Emma Hlister had three hits and drove in a pair. Grace Sabine, Makayla Nadeau and Brooke Surette also drove in runs for the Raiders (8-1).

Lisbon (6-3) took an early lead but fell behind in the bottom of the first inning. The Greyhounds got within a run midway through the game and continued to threaten before the Raiders broke the game open with five runs in the sixth.

“The inning we could have done something about is when we came  up with the two errors that cost us the runs,” said Lisbon coach Terri Tlumac, whose team is ranked fourth in Class C South. “But we can’t have that many strikeouts. We have to put the ball in play.

“I’m fine losing to a team when they hit. They hit well in that last inning. We have to control the things we can control and that’s the routine plays.”

Mallory Fairbanks had three hits for the Greyhounds while Ali Sult had a pair. Bree Staples and Jasmin Le each drove in runs for Lisbon.

The Greyhounds scored the first run when Carly Drischler walked and later scored on a Staples fielder’s choice. Oak Hill pitcher Makayla Nadeau allowed just six hits the rest of the way and struck out seven. 

Oak Hill answered that with three runs on two errors in the bottom of the first.  Early hits by Hlister and Jamie Prue started the threat. Prue scored on an error of a Makayla Nadeau fly. Then another miscue allowed Grace Sabine to score. Waterman added a single to plate Nadeau for the 3-1 lead.

“It was nice to come out on top,” Waterman said. “We always try to come out on top and score first. It makes us feel like we have control the rest of the game.”

Lisbon got one back in the fourth on a Le sacrifice fly that scored Fairbanks. The Greyhounds left the bases loaded in that inning and stranded two more in the sixth.

“The timely hitting didn’t play in our favor today,” Tlumac said. “We got runners on and left them there. When it wasn’t the seventh inning, there wasn’t a sense of urgency, but that’s when you need to produce. Today was one of those days when we didn’t get the ball to go in our favor.”

Lisbon got some nice defensive plays in the field by Sult in center field and Kipri Steele at first, but the Raiders were stellar defensively. Waterman had her nice running catch in the fifth to end that inning. Hannah Nadeau had a great leaping catch at second. Abby Nadeau grabbed a hard-hit liner at third and Sabine made a splendid play at first.

“This is probably the best defensive team that I’ve ever had,” Collins said. “We work on it, but it’s nice to see it pay off.”

Alyssa Hall pitched well for Lisbon and kept the Greyhounds within reach. She scattered nine hits but only walked two. That forced the Raiders to play tough defense and get a strong finish from Nadeau in the circle. She struck out five of the last 11 batters she faced.

“There’s always that pit in our stomach and we knew we have to pull through,” Waterman said. “We have to keep our heads in it and not make any errors.”

 Oak Hill broke the game open in the sixth. With one out, an error opened the door for the Raiders. Waterman followed with an RBI single. After a walk, Hlister doubled in a pair. Sabine followed with an RBI single and Makayla Nadeau made it 8-2 with a sacrifice fly.

“It was a great jump to start,” Collins said. “We started out hitting and then went flat. Charlotte was kind of a catalyst for us and got us going again. It livened up the dugout and everything seemed to fall into place after that.”

The points and the games get more valuable from here. With seven games left, the Raiders play five potential playoff teams including the top two seeds in Class C South (Madison and Telstar).

kmills@sunjournal.com