BLADENBORO – The 32nd seeded St. Pauls Bulldogs defeated the number-one seeded West Bladen Knights in the first round of the 2A NCHSAA playoffs last Tuesday evening. The Knights scored the first run of the evening in their half of the first inning and St. Pauls was able to respond in the third inning to tie the game at 1-1. St. Pauls captured a one run lead at the top of the fourth but their opponents refused to buckle as they tallied on two runs in the following at-bat to reclaim the lead at 3-2.
West Bladen’s Brady Durden started the game for the Knights but his evening came to an end during the fifth inning after the visitors claimed the lead once more. St. Pauls’ senior Jaden Parker cracked an RBI-double towards the outfield and a fielding error allowed a Bulldog runner to cross the plate to stretch the visitors lead to 4-3. West Bladen junior Hunter Hester replaced Durden on the mound with two more outs needed to get out of the inning. The host got a force out on an infield grounder but Parker advanced to third during the play.
Sophomore Aiden Lowery was next in the Bulldogs order and he delivered an RBI-single towards the outfield to bring home Parker for the 5th run of the evening. Hester got the final out of the inning by striking out St. Pauls’ junior Cailen McNiell. West Bladen junior JT Hepler led off with a double to get the Knights started in the bottom of the fifth inning. Parker was on top of the hill for the visitors and he got the first out on a grounder to first base. Hepler was allowed to advance to third to give the Knights a runner in scoring position.
Unfortunately, the Knights weren’t able to capitalize as their next two batters were put out on a grounder and an infield pop-up to conclude the fifth inning. The host held firm defensively by getting the first two outs on a double-play and Hester struckout the final batter. West Bladen started their next at-bat with Tyler Lewis showing discipline in the batter’s box to earn a walk. Parker blocked out the mental mistake on the mound and struckout the next batter he faced to give the Bulldogs an out.
West Bladen senior Aiden Russ groundedout but Lewis was able to advance around to third base to give the host another opportunity to score. Junior catcher Weston Hillburn was next in the Knights lineup and he delivered an RBI-single towards left-field to bring home Lewis for the run. St. Pauls’ senior Ethan Locklear replaced Parker on the mound as he was tasked with getting the final out of the sixth inning. Locklear threw a couple pitches before his catcher snapped to his feet and threw a dart towards second to catch a runner attempting to steal for the third out.
Junior Cameron McNeill led-off for the Bulldogs final at-bat of the evening and he smacked a single to right-field. The visitors failed to capitalize on the momentum as they suffered three straight outs to keep their lead at 5-4. West Bladen senior Garrett Dunham led-off with a double down the left-field line to give the host a lifeline in the bottom of the seventh. Hepler was next in the lineup but failed to beat the force out at first for the Knights first out of the at-bat.
St. Pauls’ elected to intentionally walk Cade Allen to give the Knights two runners on the corners. The Bulldogs gamble paid off as they got the next two outs and they booked their ticket to the second round. Hillburn led the Knights in slugging with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate and he was responsible for three RBI’s. West Bladen finished the season with an overall record of 17-5 and they claimed the SAC 6 title at 9-2. The Bulldogs were 0-2 against the Knights this season and they loss the regular-season matchup against the Knights by a combined score of 18-5.
St. Pauls travelled to the 16th-seeded SouthWest Edgecombe Cougars(16-7) for their second round match-up a few days later.The Cougars were able to fend off their opponents for 1-0 victory in a battle between pitchers. The St. Pauls Bulldogs finished their season with an overall record of 10-14 and they finished fifth-place in the SAC 6 Conference with a 2-8 record.
1st RD 2A EAST(SAC 6 & WACCAMAW):
#3 Camden County 6, #25 Fairmont 4
#20 Greene Central 3, #13 Midway 8
#30 Washington 5, #3 Whiteville 6
#14 South Columbus 0, #19 Farmville Central 2
#15 Manteo 0, #15 Clinton 3
2nd RD 2A EAST(SAC 6 & WACCAMAW):
#25 Fairmont 1, #9 Seaforth 4
#4 Ayden-Grifton 0, #13 Midway 3
#19 Farmville Central 0, #3 Whiteville 6
#15 Clinton 2, #2 Bunn 9