Bladen County’s Eva Dove pitched a no-hitter in Saturday’s 1-0 win against Moore County in the opening round of the Diamond Youth Softball Angels state tournament in Lumberton.
Cooper Patrick makes a play from his shortstop position during Elizabethtown win over Columbus County on Saturday.
Members of the Bladen County Dixie Boys All-Stars are, left to right, Stryker Pait, Aidan Thompson, Oxciel Campos, Landon Gause, Khalil Moore, Drake Gause, Triton Bordeaux, Colt Lewis, Jayden Bethea, Keithan Russ, Gunner Lewis, Dalton Ammons, Rylan Bordeaux. Not pictured are Prince Powell, Coach AJ Bordeaux, Coach Raymond Autry and Coach Clint Allen.
Members of the Bladen County Angels All-Stars are (not in order) Averie Tew, Rachel Earp, Emoni Autry, Ava Willoughby, Keatyn Norris, Alivia Ammons, Sully Peterson, Macyn Bebout, Sadie Rabon, Nora Chadwick, Bella Hester and Eva Dove. Coaches are Danielle Dove, John Ammons and Mike Dove.
Members of the Elizabethtown Majors team are: First row, from left, Baylor Gooden, Kymani Matheson, Mark McMichael, Jase Allen and Greylan Knobles. Second row, from left, Aiden Wooten, Cooper Patrick, Cooper Clark and Tony Robinson. Third row, from left, Jabari Adams-Peterson, Elijah Dicicco and Nolan Schultz. Fourth row, left, Coach Camrin Wooten, Coach Teffrey McKoy and Coach Mark McMichael.
Members of the Bladen County AAA All-Stars are: First row, from left, Laylon Council, Reid Butler, Lawson Walters, B.B. Christian and Jackson Davis. Second row, from left, Colton Thompson, Cooper White, Cedarius Ballard, Memphis Smith and Gus Bordeaux. Back row, from left, Coach Ashley Davis, Coach Tim Benton, Coach Lesley Davis. Not pictured is Alex Meares.
Bladen County Angels catcher Keatyn Norris.
Elizabethtown’s Aiden Wooten allowed a run on two hits over four innings in a win against Columbus County.
LUMBERTON – Eva Dove pitched a no-hitter and Sully Peterson connected for a first-inning home run Saturday as Bladen County defeated Moore County 1-0 in the opening round of the Diamond Youth Softball Angels state tournament at Dr. Raymond B. Pennington Athletic Complex.
Elsewhere, Elizabethtown defeated Columbus County 8-4 in the Diamond Youth Baseball Majors tournament in Winter Park, Bladen County routed Harnett County 15-3 in the Dixie Boys tournament in Winnabow, and Anson County defeated Bladen County 12-2 in the DYB AAA tournament in Shallotte.
Dove struck out 11 and walked eight in tossing Saturday’s gem for the Bladen County Angels. .
Moore County loaded the bases with one out in the third inning, but Dove struck out the next two batters. The right-hander struck out the final four batters she faced in the five inning game.
The lone run came in the first inning after the first two Bladen County batters were retired. Peterson belted an 0-1 pitch to center field for a home run.
Bladen County loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth on a two-out walk to Alivia Ammons, a hit by Keatyn Norris and a walk to Bella Hester, but couldn’t score.
Bladen County advances to play Lumberton at 1 p.m. Sunday in a winner’s bracket game of the eight-team, double elimination Angels tournament. If Bladen wins Sunday, it would play Monday at 1 p.m. If Bladen loses Sunday, it would play Monday at 11 a.m.
Dixie Boys: Bladen County 15, Harnett County 3
Stryker Pait went 4-for-4 with four runs scored in leading a 15-hit Bladen County offensive attack. Landon Gause went 3-for-4 with a run scored.
Aidan Thompson and Gunner Lewis each had two hits while Prince Powell, Keithan Russ and Rylan Bordeaux each added a hit for Bladen County.
Harnett County led 2-1 after the first inning, but Bladen County scored four runs in the second, then sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six runs in the third for an 11-3 lead. Bladen County added four runs in the fourth.
Bladen County drew a second-round bye and advanced to the third round scheduled Monday at noon against an opponent to be determined.
DYB Majors: Elizabethtown 8, Columbus County 4
Elizabethtown plated four runs in the third inning and added three more in the fourth en route to the opening round victory.
Aiden Wooten allowed 1 run on two hits with three strikeouts and a pair of walks over four innings in relief to earn the win for Elizabethtown. Cooper Clark and Elijah Dicicco each pitched an inning.
Kymani Matheson and Clark each had two hits to lead Elizabethtown batters. Cooper Patrick, Greyland Nobles, Wooten and Dicicco each had a hit.
Trailing 2-1 entering the third inning, Elizabethtown used a triple by Clark, single by Patrick, triple by Wooten, single by Nobles along with an error and fielder’s choice to score four times for a 5-2 lead.
Elizabethtown used hit by Matheson and Clark, along with two walks and Columbus County errors for three more runs in the fourth for an 8-2 lead.
Columbus County scored single runs in the fourth and sixth innings.
Elizabethtown is scheduled to play Sunday at 3 p.m. against West Robeson.
DYB AAA: Anson County 12, Bladen County 2
Anson County scored in every inning, including four in the fifth to pull away.
Bladen County scored in the first when Jackson Davis singled and later came around to score. Its other run came in the third when Alex Meares reached and later scored.
L.C. Council, Colton Thompson and Davis each had a hit for Bladen County.
Bladen County is scheduled to play at 12:30 p.m. Sunday against Town Creek in an elimination game.
Sonny Jones can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @FOSonnyJones.