Staff report

BLACKSTONE—The Southampton Academy baseball team defeated Tidewater Academy 7-6 on Friday afternoon to advance to Saturday’s championship game of the Virginia Commonwealth Conference tournament.

The Raiders opened the game with three runs in the top of the first inning, only to see Tidewater pull within one on a two-run home run by Peyton Holdsworth. The score remained 3-2 in favor of SA until the top of the fifth, when the Raiders added three more runs to take a 6-2 lead. Holdsworth hit his second home run of the game in the home half of the fifth, which narrowed the Raiders’ lead to 6-3. SA’s Matt Rose hit a solo home run in the top of the sixth, which proved to be the decisive run in the game.

In their final at-bat in the bottom of the seventh, TA put two men on base for J.D. Baker, who hit a three run shot to pull his team to within one run, but were unable to close the gap.

Tonee Hill pitched a complete game for the Raiders, racking up ten strikeouts. The Raiders’ offense was paced by Matt Rose, who had two hits and drove in three runs. Southampton Academy will face the Fuqua School, who defeated Kenston Forest 9-3 in Friday’s other semifinal game. The game will be played at Kenston Forest in Blackstone. First pitch is scheduled for 1p.m. Saturday.