Will Radford’s Four-Hit Night Sparks Greene Central’s 11-1 Rout of Washington
SNOW HILL — After a stretch of close losses and offensive inconsistency, Greene Central may have found its groove again — and Will Radford led the charge.
The junior catcher went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs and two runs scored, helping Greene Central cruise past Washington, 11-1, in five innings on Friday in Eastern Plains 2A Conference play.
Radford, who also handled catching duties and later ran the bases as his own courtesy runner, showed off the full scope of his game.
“In a few situations, I’d rather be out there on the base paths and make a play for myself,” Radford said. “It felt good — I just had to change my approach a little bit. I had been struggling midseason, but I think I got it back.”
Radford’s day started with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the first inning. Riley Radford followed with another RBI hit, and Logan Burress capped the frame with a sacrifice fly to push Greene Central ahead 4-0 early. The Rams added two more in the second, two in the third, and three in the fourth to secure the mercy-rule win.
Greene Central improved to 7-6 overall and 4-4 in conference play, moving into a tie for fourth place in the standings after sweeping the two-game series with Washington.
“It felt good, man,” head coach Ben Brann said. “We’ve been going through a little bit of a tough spell — we’ve been losing a lot of close games. We hadn’t been playing bad baseball either, so it feels good to start stacking some in the win column.”
On the mound, Riley Radford (3-2) tossed five strong innings, allowing just two hits and one earned run while striking out four. The junior now leads the Rams with 32.0 innings pitched this season and has held opposing hitters to a .188 average.
Offensively, Greene Central tallied 12 hits and drew six walks, a display of discipline that led to production up and down the order. Noah Roberson went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a stolen base, while Mason Dillon added a 2-for-2 day with two runs scored and a walk.
“I’ve been feeling great,” said Roberson. “I’ve been putting the ball in play and making things happen.”
Dillon echoed that sentiment as he reflected on his individual growth this season.
“I feel my performance has improved a lot,” he said. “I’m going from striking out a lot to turning those into hits.”
Roberson now sits second on the team with 13 hits on the year and leads the Rams with 10 RBIs. Will Radford, who entered the game hitting .290, raised his average to .357 over his last five games.
Elijah Monroe, who walked three times and scored twice out of the leadoff spot, also helped set the tone offensively. Easton Creech and Burress each drove in a run, and the Rams stole four bases without committing a single error in the field.
The win capped off a two-game sweep of the Pam Pack, as Greene Central also beat Washington on the road 14-4 earlier in the week.
“I think we’ve got a lot of momentum after this week, going into next week,” Will Radford said. “We’d been kinda in a slow roll… I think we kinda got our confidence back.”
Conference Picture and What's Ahead
With four conference games remaining, Greene Central sits in the thick of the Eastern Plains 2A standings. The Rams (4-4 conference, 7-6 overall) are tied for fourth alongside Washington and sit just one game behind third-place Farmville Central. Top-seeded Southwest Edgecombe (5-1) and second-place Ayden-Grifton (6-2) remain within striking distance with two weeks of league play left.
The Rams currently lead the league in conference runs scored (70) and boast the second-best run differential (+35), evidence of how explosive they’ve been when clicking. They’re also among the top three in team batting average (.314) and on-base percentage (.420) across conference play.
Remaining conference games:
Apr. 8 – vs. West Craven
Apr. 11 – @ West Craven
Apr. 15 – vs. Farmville Central
Apr. 16 – @ Farmville Central
Non-conference matchups with Southside, Roanoke Rapids, and BGC round out the regular season, giving the Rams several opportunities to sharpen up ahead of the postseason push.
If Greene Central handles business against last-place West Craven (1-5) and holds their own against Farmville Central, a top-three finish is within reach — and with it, an opportunity to enter the playoffs on a full head of steam.
