ELIZABETHTOWN — East Bladen coach Jay Raynor got one of his team’s best efforts Tuesday on the pitch as the Eagles whitewashed visiting West Columbus in a non-conference match, 9-0.
East Bladen got goals from seven different players and assists from seven different players en route to the mercy rule win.
Greyson Heustess got the Eagles on the board early in the match when he took a pass from Grey Cabellero and zipped a shot into the back of the net. About 8 minutes later, Jake Evans hit Brooks McGill with a pass and McGill did the rest, taking the ball in close for a point-blank shot that gave East Bladen a 2-0 edge.
Just moments later, Jacob Barber sent a pass ahead to Heustess, who juked past a defender and rocketed a goal for a 3-0 Eagles lead.
As the first half went into the home stretch, Evans sent another pass ahead to McGill, who blasted a shot into the net for his second goal of the half. But the Eagles weren’t done. Just seconds later, Evans launched a corner kick that found Caleb Hatchell, who sent a laser into the net for a 5-0 East Bladen. Just before the half ended, Heustess found Barber streaking in deep and the pass was turned into a goal for a 6-0 halftime lead.
The Eagles continued to press the action in the second half and it paid off about 10 minutes in when Hatchell stole a ball, bumped it over to McGill who sent a pass to Pierce Melvin, who delivered a shot into the back of the net for a 7-0 lead.
Raynor, who had started getting his reserves in for some experience, saw positive results almost immediately.
Just past the midway point of the second half, Josh Pope found Gabe barber with a pass and Barber booted a shot into the net from in close to give East Bladen an 8-0 edge.
About 10 minutes later, the match came to a close when Robert Meggs took a pass from Milton Estrada and turned it into the final goal of the day.
The Eagles improved to 4-1 and were scheduled for a road match against South Columbus on Thursday.
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Volleyball
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— Wallace-Rose Hill visited West Bladen on Tuesday for a Four County Conference match and walked away with a straight sets win over the Lady Knights.
The Lady Bulldogs fought off a pesky West Bladen squad in the first game to take a 25-23 win, then cruised to 25-16 and 25-14 wins that sealed the victory.
Morgan Schumacher led the Lady Knights with seven kills, four aces and a pair of solo blocks; Kathryn Schultz contributed three kills and three block assists; Raegan Davis recorded four kills, three block assists and a solo block; Jenna Dove had three aces; Laikyn Pait had a solo block; Logan Autry had a kill and an ace; and Patience Parker had a kill.
“Wallace-Rose Hill is a great team that has great chemistry,” West Bladen coach Gaye Davis said. “My girls played them tough the first set — just small mistakes got the best of us. We will practice hard (Wednesday) and get ready for Trask on Thursday.”
The Lady Knights are now 5-3 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
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Tennis
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The Four County Conference opener for the Lady Eagles’ against Clinton, originally scheduled for Tuesday, was reset for Thursday, Sept. 22.
The match will be played at East Bladen at 4 p.m.