ST. PAULS — A short-handed West Bladen team couldn’t get its offense in gear Tuesday and fell to host St. Pauls, 3-2, in a Three Rivers Conference softball game.

The Lady Knights were hampered up the middle without catcher Alara Cashwell, who had the flu, and centerfielder Kyla Reed, who was on a school trip.

West Bladen took a 1-0 lead in the first when Abby Dawson singled, stole second and trotted home on Carley Dawson’s RBI double.

After a scoreless second, the Lady Bulldogs used two hits, an error and passed ball to plate a pair of runs for a 2-1 edge in the third.

West Bladen knotted the game at 2-2 with a run in the sixth when Madison Collins walked, Alyssa Suggs singled and Elizabeth Allbright stroked an RBI single.

But St. Pauls got three straight singles in the home half of the sixth to push across the winning run.

“We were short-handed, but we still should have won,” said West Bladen coach Pam Stephens. “But that how it goes sometimes.”

Suggs led the Lady Knights at the plate, going 2-for-3.

In the circle, Collins was tagged with the tough loss for West, twirling a complete game and giving up five hits, walking one and fanning six.

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Eagles suspended

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In Elizabethtown on Tuesday, host East Bladen and visiting East Columbus started earlier than scheduled but still couldn’t beat Mother Nature. The Three Rivers Conference baseball game was suspended in the bottom of the fifth when lightning moved in with the Eagles leading, 8-2.

East Bladen erupted for six runs in the second inning behind a bases-loaded error, two-run double by Xavier Wooten, RBI walk to Gabe Barber and two-run double by Ty Watkins.

East pushed the lead to 7-0 in the third when Dan Tatum singled, stole second and scored on an error. The Eagles then tacked on another run in the fourth behind Holden Clark’s RBI single.

East Columbus plated two runs early in the fifth to cut the gap to 8-2 and had two runners on base with no outs when the game was called.

The two teams will complete the game April 27 in Lake Waccamaw.

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Knights blanked, 5-0

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In St. Pauls on Tuesday, West Bladen miscues cost the Knights a 5-0 Three Rivers Conference loss to the Bulldogs.

After two scoreless innings, St. Pauls scored three unearned runs in the third behind a trio of West Bladen errors and two walks. The Bulldogs added two runs in the fifth behind a error, passed ball and a pair of hit batters for a 5-0 lead.

The two teams combined for just three hits, with the Knights’ hits a double by Jake Butler in the seventh and a double by Logan West in the sixth.

Scott Bowen took the hard-luck loss on the hill for the visitors, going three innings and giving up one hit, three walks and striking out two. Derrick Long went 2.2 innings, hitting two batters and striking out three; Colby White finished up for West and retired the one hitter he faced.

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Lady Knights suspended

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In Dublin on Tuesday, the Lady Knights got a first-half goal from Melennie Hernandez off a pass from Claudia Reyes against visiting Red Springs, but the Three Rivers Conference soccer match was stopped by severe weather early in the second half.

The two teams will complete the match at a later date.

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