ELIZABETHTOWN — Fueled by a grand-slam home run, visiting Fairmont rallied with eight runs in the top of the seventh inning Tuesday to knock off East Bladen in a Three Rivers Conference softball game, 13-6.
After a scoreless first inning , the Lady Eagles scored twice in the bottom of the second behind a wild pitch and an RBI by Abbie Cross on a fielder’s choice.
The Lady Tornadoes went hitless through the first three innings, but scored two runs in the fourth behind a trio of hits that helped knot the game at 2-2.
East Bladen took a 3-2 lead in the home half of the fourth behind singles by Alyssa Futrell and Cross, then a fielder’s choice by Ja’Tyra Moore-Peterson. But Fairmont plated three runs in the fifth to take its first lead at 5-3.
The Lady Eagles answered with three runs in the sixth inning for a 6-5 edge behind an RBI double by Futrell and two-run single by Erica McKoy.
The Lady Tornadoes, however, exploded for eight runs in the top of the seventh to earn the win.
Futrell led East Bladen’s 11-hit attack, going 3-for-4 with the RBI double; McKoy was also 3-for-4 with two RBI.
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Baseball
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— In Elizabethtown on Wednesday, visiting Fairmont erupted for seven runs in the top of the first to put East Bladen in a hole it could never get out of en route to a 16-12 Three Rivers Conference win.
The Eagles answered with four runs in the home half of the first behind an RBI single by Xavier Wooten and a bases-clearing double by Pierce Melvin.
The Tornadoes got one run back in the second to take an 8-4 edge, then added two runs in the third and two more in the fourth to open a 12-4 advantage.
In the bottom of the fourth, East Bladen took advantage of an error and double-steal to score twice and cut the deficit to 12-6.
The visitors responded with four runs in the fifth frame to open a 16-6 lead, but East Bladen still put up a fight. The Eagles scored a run in the bottom of the fifth behind an RBI single by Spencer Scott, then plated four runs in the sixth behind a triple by Ty Watkins, an RBI fielder’s choice by Shy Pone, RBI single by Zach Meares and a two-run single by Greyson Heustess that cut the gap to 16-11.
An RBI single by Brady Hollingsworth for East Bladen in the seventh cut the deficit to 16-12.
Smith was 3-for-3 at the plate for the Eagles, who had 20 hits in the game; Hollingsworth was 2-for-2 with an RBI; Scott was 3-for-4 with an RBI; Wooten was 3-for-5 with an RBI; Heustess was 2-for-3 with two RBI; Melvin was 2-for-4 with a double and RBI; Watkins was 2-for-5 with a triple.
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Boys tennis
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— In Dublin on Tuesday, visiting West Columbus made five singles wins stand up for a 5-4 Three Rivers Conference victory over West Bladen.
Logan Lewis earned the lone Knights’ win at No. 6 singles by a 6-1 and 6-2 verdict.
West Bladen swept the trio of doubles matches, with the team of Jose Osorio and Desmond Lesesne getting an 8-6 win at No. 1; the tandem of Edgardo Lara and Victor Arellano getting a tough 9-7 win at No. 2; and the duo of Jacob Hester and Lewis earning a 6-1 and 6-2 win.
— In St. Pauls on Tuesday, visiting East Bladen could manage only a single doubles match win and took an 8-1 Three Rivers Conference loss to the Bulldogs.
The Eagles’ duo of Jackson Bostic and Tucker Norton earned an 8-2 win at No. 2 doubles for the lone point.