Kerry Ritchie of Salisbury tried his luck on a Powerball ticket and won a $100,000 prize.

“My girlfriend just sat there and giggled!” Ritchie said of the moment the couple discovered the win together.

Ritchie’s girlfriend played an important role in helping him discover his win. Having left his $3 Power Play ticket in his truck for two days, it was only when she heard that a winning Powerball ticket was sold at their local store, Bostian Heights Grocery on N.C.152 East in China Grove, that he decided to go ahead and check his numbers.

To his surprise, the former firefighter of 30 years matched numbers on four white balls plus the red Powerball in the Oct. 30 drawing to win him $50,000. His prize doubled to $100,000 when the 2X multiplier was drawn.

He claimed his prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Wednesday. After required federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $70,751. Ritchie said he plans on making some improvements to his home that he and his girlfriend recently purchased.

Saturday’s Powerball jackpot weighs in at $146 million. A winner would have the choice of the $146 million as an annuity or $104.2 million in cash. Since Aug. 23, Powerball drawings are now held three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.

Powerball is one of four lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets either through the lottery’s website, or with the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. The other games are Mega Millions, Lucky For Life, and Carolina Cash 5.

Ticket sales from draw games like Powerball make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $900 million per year for education. For details on how $7.5 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Rowan County in 2020, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.