AHOSKIE – Ridgecroft pounded out 16 hits and knocked off Faith Christian School 15-10 here Friday.

The Rams’ baseball victory came in the opening round of the North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association state tournament.

Faith Christian opened the scoring in the top of the first frame when they plated one run.

The Rams rallied for three in the bottom of the same stanza. Jeremy Courtright singled on the infield before Gavin Mizelle blasted a two-run homer to center.

After that, Josh Morris singled to left field, stole second and third and scored on an Andy Daughtridge RBI-single to give the Rams a 3-1 lead.

The Patriots took the lead back in the top of the second inning when they plated three runs.

Ridgecroft tied the game at 4-all with a run in the bottom of the same frame.

Matthew Jones singled to right, went to third on a Mizelle single and scored on a Morris RBI-single to deadlock the game.

Faith scored two in the fourth to again take the lead, only to have Ridgecroft tie the game again in the bottom of the inning.

Courtright singled to left and stole second before taking third on a Mizelle single to right. Mizelle stole second before Courtright scored on a wild pitch.

Mizelle then came home on a when Morris singled to right, knotting the score at 6-all.

Ridgecroft grabbed the advantage in the bottom of the fifth when they plated two runs.

Courtright and Mizelle drew back-to-back walks and both scored on a double by Morris that pushed the Rams’ lead to 8-6.

Faith got within one (8-7) with a run in the top of the sixth, but the Rams rolled off seven runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it 15-7.

Neil Howard reached first on an error and then went to second on a Daughtridge bunt single. Each advanced when Faith Christian committed an error.

Bryan Britton walked to load the bases before Dillon Lowe delivered a two-run single. Courtright then had an RBI-single and Morris drew a bases-loaded walk.

Dustin Baker delivered a two-run single and Morris scored the final run on a wild pitch to give Ridgecroft a 15-7 lead.

Faith scored three in the top of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough as the Rams held on for the win.

Britton tossed five innings for Ridgecroft, allowing seven runs on six hits while striking out eight. Mizelle pitched two innings in relief, allowing three runs on four hits and striking out one.

Leading the Rams’ offensively were Morris, who had four hits and five RBIs along with Courtright and Mizelle both had three hits. Baker and Daughtridge had two hits. Jones and Lowe had one.

Ridgecroft improved to 14-3 with the win and advanced to the second round of the NCISAA tournament. Waiting there is top seed Lawrence Academy. They will meet at Lawrence today (Tuesday) at 4 p.m.