COURTLAND
Fresh off of a complete-game shutout in North Carolina, Southampton Academy’s Andrew Lowe continued to sling it on the mound on Thursday evening against Tidewater Academy. The junior picked up his first no-hitter and improved to 5-0 on the season, as the Raiders run ruled the Warriors 10-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Lowe, who had six strikeouts, was a throw to first base away from a perfect game, as he didn’t walk anyone. Jackson Smith made an excellent play to stop a ball from getting by him at third. The throw to first beat Daulton Daugherty, but it also pulled first baseman Brynner Porter off of the bag, allowing the lone runner to reach base.

“He is a very intelligent pitcher,” said head coach Tim Nixon. “He’s very smart — it’s not just about his arm. He knows how to set up batters and pitch to their strengths and weaknesses.

“Plus he works extra hard at it all the time. All around, he’s very valuable to the team.”

Lowe is first in the conference in ERA with .028, only having yielded one earned run. He’s pitched three complete game shut outs and has struck out 45 on the year, while only walking six batters in 31 innings of work. He’s also earned a save.

“Andrew pitched really well — he has all year,” Nixon said. “And he’s had to. This year, we’ve had to ride he and Brynner Porter on the mound. So far, those guys have carried us.”

On offense, Matt Rose started things off for the Raiders in the first inning with a two-run home run. The academy slowly added to the lead until the sixth inning, when the team was able to put four on the board. Smith slid across the plate for the game ending run on a wild pitch.

“Tidewater is a good team,” Nixon said. “They played two other games this week and they were down on their pitchers. If you put the right pitchers on the mound, they are a real tough team to beat.

“Coach [Paul] Rogers does a good job, and he knows that you can lose a few skirmishes along the way, as long as you win the battle at the end.”

Nixon said he was proud of the way his team has played.

“We haven’t been getting a lot of strike outs,” he said. “But since we don’t walk a lot of batters, we are giving our defense a chance to play position ball. That’s pretty much what happened today, and it’s happened all season.”

The Raiders (12-1) are next scheduled to play Kenston Forest in Blackstone on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.