RED SPRINGS – The West Bladen Knights defeated the Red Springs Red Devils for a 10-0 victory in a SAC 6 clash last Friday evening.
The Knights defeated the Red Devils twice in a span of two days and they accumulated 20 runs enroute to a conference title. Tyler Lewis led the way for the Knights in the batter’s box with a 2-for-4 performance and he was responsible for three RBI’s. Hunter Hester pitched 4.2 innings to claim the win and the shutout during Friday’s matchup with the Red Devils.
Hester displayed control on top of the hill as he sat down 10 of the 19 batters faced and he only walked three. Red Springs found it difficult to find a hit against the Knights as they only had three hits across two games. West Bladen’s J.T Hepler and Cade Allen led the charge in Tuesday’s game as they both went 2-for-3 at the plate, while they both batted in two runs during the evening. The Knights had three senior arms combined on the mound for Tuesday’s win in Brady Durden, Aiden Russ and Garrett Dunham.
The Knights played the Midway Raiders this Saturday to settle a tie-break for the top playoff-seed in the SAC 6 Conference. The Raiders went into Saturday’s game on a eight game win-streak, with their last defeat coming from a 5-0 loss to West Bladen on April 10th. The Knights were able to take an early 2-1 advantage after the first inning but the Raiders were able to score four runs in their half of the third. Midway preserved their advantage through the next two innings but their opponents were able to rally in their half of the sixth inning.
West Bladen got six runs across the plate to put them ahead 8-5 with an inning remaining in the game. The Raiders attempted to mount a comeback in the final inning but failed to rally back with things being settled at 8-6. Hester led the Knights in the batter’s box during Saturday’s victory with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate and he was responsible for batting in two runs. Ashton Davis pitched four innings against the Raiders as he allowed six hits on five runs, while walking two and striking out three of the 17 batters faced. West Bladen finished the season with an overall record of 17-4 and they claimed the SAC 6 Conference title outright with a 9-2 record.
This is the Knights first conference title since 2009 and the Knights have jumped up in the RPI-rankings after defeating Midway for the projected number-one seed in the 2A East Region. The Bunn Wildcats are ranked second in the 2A East RPI-rankings with an overall record of 22-2 and they will surely be a top-seeded team once the postseason draw is complete. The Whiteville Wolfpack claimed a share of the Waccamaw Conference title after defeating South Columbus twice last week to finish atop the standings at 10-2. Whiteville will represent the Waccamaw as the top-seed for 2A schools in the conference and they’re ranked third in the RPI-rankings in the East Region.
South Columbus fell to number-eight in the RPI-rankings after suffering two straight losses to Whiteville but they also claimed a share of the conference title finishing their Waccamaw schedule with a 10-2 record. The East Bladen Eagles finished their regular-season strong with a 9-8 victory over East Duplin in a non-conference clash last Thursday. The Eagles got it done with 10 hits as a team and they got a combined effort on the mound from Jayce Hatcher, Isaiah Lee, and Easton Bostic.
East Bladen were able to secure the top-seed for 1A schools in the Waccamaw Conference after West Columbus defeated East Columbus last Thursday. The Eagles solidified themselves in third-place with a record of 7-5 and they settled into 7th in 1A East RPI-rankings with an overall record of 11-10. The East Columbus Gators dropped down to ninth in the RPI-rankings after their chase of East Bladen ended in a whimper after two straight defeats last week. The Gators finished the season with an overall record of 13-8 and they tied for fourth-place with West Columbus at 6-6.
The West Columbus Vikings concluded their season with an overall record of 8-12 and they’ll be the last Waccamaw team to be locked in for a postseason spot. The Vikings are currently ranked 20th in the 1A East RPI-rankings and will be likely to travel on the road for the first round of the postseason.