Bladen County rivals East Bladen and West Bladen met on the field, pitch and court Friday at West Bladen.
When the lights were finally turned off on a chilly, breezy evening, West Bladen had won in varsity baseball and softball while East Bladen claimed victories in girls’ soccer, boys’ tennis and junior varsity baseball
Softball: West Bladen 10, East Bladen 0
Allison Hickman pitched a three-hitter and Natalee Sykes drove in four runs as the Knights rolled past the Eagles in a game stopped after 4½ innings because of the run-rule.
“The energy was up,” said Hickman, a senior who struck out seven and walked two. “You have to have good players that support you no matter what, even if you’re doing good or bad.
“I feel really good about the win, especially because it’s against East Bladen,” said Hickman.
It was the 22nd time in the past 26 meetings that West Bladen had beaten the Eagles.
Master sports schedule | Standings
East Bladen got only one runner as far as second base. It came on a double to the fence by Niyah Wooten in the second inning.
“This win means a lot, especially to the seniors,” Sykes said. “This is the last time we’re getting to play East Bladen at home, so it was really special to be able to go out with a big win for our last time.”
Addison Wilcox was 3-for-3 for West Bladen (2-5). Karlee Gause and Sykes each hit two hits. Kali Allen, Maycee Kilaw, Brenna Hester and Hickman each added a hit.
Gracie Edwards, Sierra Thompson and Wooten had hits for East Bladen (2-3).
“Our girls didn’t play to their full potential,” East Bladen coach Nathan Dowless said. “We’ve got to hit the ball better. It’s hard to win ballgames when you don’t have but three hits and you have more errors than you have hits. We’ll try to get better.”
According to West Bladen’s scorebook, East Bladen was charged with three errors while the Knights didn’t commit a fielding miscue.
West Bladen coach Joshua Allen was pleased with the win and the recent improvement shown by his team. The Knights lost at North Brunswick 15-0 two weeks ago, but fell only 2-1 to the Scorpions last Wednesday.
“It’s always fun playing in-county rivals,” Allen said. “It’s more fun for the girls. There’s a lot of friends on both teams. I’ve coached a lot of the girls on the other team. It was a very high, energetic game. The girls were into it.
“We haven’t hit all year. That’s the first game we’ve consistently hit throughout the lineup, done our job baserunning and played defense,” Allen said.
Baseball: West Bladen 14, East Bladen 8
Hunter Hester and Chase Bryan each drove in four runs as the Knights won a slugfest in a game that saw the teams combine for 15 hits, 16 walks, five hit batters and seven errors.
West Bladen (5-1) jumped out to a 5-1 lead after two innings, using an RBI single from Chase Bryan, Hester’s triple to center and three East Bladen errors.
East Bladen (1-4) pulled with 5-2 in the third when Tyler Eason drew a bases loaded walk, then took the lead in the top of the fourth with four runs. Easton Bostic reached on error and Zach Sholar and Davion Lewis walked to load the bases. Colton Daly was hit by a pitch, Scholar scored on a wild pitch and Isaiah Lee drove home two runs with a double.
The Knights countered with four runs in the bottom of the fourth for a 9-6 lead. Walks to Tyler Lewis, J.T. Hepler and Ashton Davis loaded the bases. An error and RBI groundout scored the three runs. Hester scored on the front end of a double steal with Jackson Smith.
Four more runs in the fifth increased West Bladen’s lead to 13-6. Hester drove home a run with a double and Bryan delivered a bases-loaded double that cleared the bases.
In the sixth, Daniel Bryan walked, was bunted to second by Aidan Trinidad, moved to third on a Lewis ground out and scored on a wild pitch that put West Bladen ahead 14-6.
East Bladen managed a pair of runs in the seventh on a walk to Lewis and back-to-back doubles by Daly and Lee.
Chase Bryan was credited as the winning pitcher and Eason took the loss. The teams combined to use seven pitchers.
Girls’ Soccer: East Bladen 3, West Bladen 1
Kenley Parks scored two goals as the Eagles won for the 26th consecutive time in the series since 2011.
West Bladen (0-4-1) took the lead about six minutes into play when LiLeigh Anderson sent a free kick from about 20 yards out into the top left corner of the goal.
Parks tied it a couple of minutes later on a free kick from about 30 yards out.
Bella Beard scored what turned out to be the deciding goal several minutes later after the Eagles were able to gain control and move the ball into the box.
East Bladen (2-2-1) sealed the win late in the second half when Parks sent a penalty kick into the top left corner after West Bladen had been called for a handball inside the box.
West Bladen keeper Ashley Baiza Rivon was credited with 13 saves. Makenna Thurman, Brittany Ramirez and Jaidyn Taylor each had four steals.
“We played well,” East Bladen coach Jay Raynor said. “Limited our mistakes. We didn’t apply as much pressure as we would like, but we got the job done. Everyone played well and gave us great minutes.
“We are young and lack some experience. but we have some great leaders who are doing all they can to help our freshman and sophomores grow. Still getting the pieces in the right places during the right times,” Raynor said..
Boys’ Tennis: East Bladen 9. West Bladen 0
The Eagles (4-1) swept the Knights (0-3) for the second time this season.
Singles: Jackson Bridgers (EB) def. Luck Beck 8-2; JuanDiego Burga-Cupen (EB) def. Colin Elkins 8-2; Greigh Butler (EB) def. Jude Culbreth 8-5; Luke Bridgers (EB) def. Stephen Smith 8-4; Noah Stephens (EB) def. Spencer Everette 8-3; Dajour Davis (EB) def. Dawson Edwards 8-2.
Doubles: J. Bridgers/Burga-Cupen (EB) def. Beck/Culbreth 8-3; Butler/L. Bridgers (EB) def. Elkins-Smith 8-0; Davis/Phoenix Mote (EB) def. Everette/Edwards 8-5.
JV Baseball: East Bladen 8, West Bladen 3
East Bladen struck for five runs in the top of the first inning and Fox Sutton allowed two hits and struck out six in the four-inning game halted by time limit.
Chandler Wall had two hits, including a two-run triple in the first, to lead East Bladen (1-2) at the plate. Zamarion Pone, Jackson Moffatt and Sutton each had a hit. Sutton walked four and hit a batter.
Sawyer King had an RBI-double in the first and a run-producing sacrifice bunt in the second for West Bladen (3-2). Stryker Pait had a hit for West Bladen. Cole Bryan went the distance on the mound. He struck out two, walked five and hit two batters.
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