HOPE MILLS – The West Bladen Knights defeated the South View Tigers for a 9-6 victory in a non-conference match-up last Monday evening. West Bladen junior Weston Hillburn went 2-for-4 at the plate, was responsible for two home runs and he batted in five runs in the victory over the Tigers. The Knights fended off a five run serge from their opponents in the sixth inning to secure their sixth straight win. South View sophomore Malachi Jones led his team at the plate with a 2-for-3 performance and he batted in two runs in the defeat.
Senior right-hander Brady Durden pitched 5.2 innings against South View to earn the win on his resume and he struck out three of the 27 batters he faced. West Bladen’s overall record moves to 14-4 and they’ll look to seal the SAC 6 Conference title this week with matchups against Red Springs. The Knights are currently in a three-way tie for first-place in the SAC 6 standings with Midway and Clinton at 6-2.
Red Springs will enter Bladenboro this Tuesday on a two game losing streak and they’ll hope to make up ground over St. Pauls in their final two games as they occupy last place in the standings. The Knights will take on their in-county rivals East Bladen on Thursday evening for their final home game of the regular season and they’ll conclude their week on the road against Red Springs. West Bladen are in poll position to earn the top-seed in the SAC 6 Conference and they’re currently first in the 2A East RPI-rankings.
The Midway Raiders have an overall record of 16-6 and they hold third in the 2A East RPI-rankings with two games remaining on their schedule. The Raiders will travel to St. Pauls this Tuesday and they’ll host St. Pauls on Friday in a SAC 6 clash. St. Pauls is 2-6 in conference action and their struggles this season has landed them in fifth-place in the standings. The Clinton Darkhorses have posted an overall record of 15-4 and they currently rank 10th in the 2A East Region RPI-rankings.
The Darkhores will begin the week with a match-up against East Bladen this Monday and their final two games of the regular-season will be against the Fairmont Golden Tornadoes. Farimont have an overall record of 11-11 and they occupy the fourth-place spot in the conference standings at 3-5. The Golden Tornadoes will look to finish the season strong as they have a shot to get into this year’s postseason; Fairmont is ranked 24th in the 2A East Region RPI coming into their final week of the schedule.
Clinton defeated Harrells Academy in a 14-4 victory last Tuesday as they’ll charge into Elizabethtown with some momentum. East Bladen has been one of the hottest teams in the Waccamaw Conference in recent weeks with an overall record of 10-9. The Eagles got a 7-4 victory over Wake Christian Academy last Monday on a neutral field before taking a brief break.
East Bladen went into the final week of the season ranked seventh in the 1A East Region RPI-rankings. They will also take on East Duplin in addition to their non-conference match-ups with Clinton and West Bladen. The East Columbus Gators are in poll position to capture the top-seed for 1A teams in the Waccamaw Conference as they rank sixth in 1A East Region RPI at 13-6.
The Gators will play their final two games against West Columbus in a Waccamaw Conference clash to conclude the regular-season. South Columbus and Whiteville will battle it out for the Waccamaw Conference title in the final week of the season. The South Columbus Stallions sit atop the Waccamaw conference standings with a 10-0 record and The Whiteville Wolfpack are right behind them with an 8-2 record.
The Stallions can secure the top-seed in the Waccamaw Conference for 2A teams with a victory over Whiteville. South Columbus is ranked sixth in the 2A East Region RPI-rankings at 15-3 and Whiteville are ranked eighth in the RPI at 14-4.