LUMBERTON — West Bladen used nine walks, seven wild pitches, five stolen bases and four hits — all in the third inning — to score 10 runs on the way to a 16-4 run-rule win over Red Springs in the consolation round of the Robeson County Slugfest on Monday.
The Lady Red Devils plated a pair of runs in the top of the first thanks to a pair of errors by West Bladen, but the Lady Knights got a run back in the bottom of the first when Abby Dawson reached on an infield single, stole second and scored on a groudout by Carley Dawson to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Madison Collins struck out the side in the second inning for West Bladen, but the Lady Knights couldn’t get anything going in the home half.
In the third, Red Springs was held in check and the West Bladen erupted for the 10 runs in the bottom of the frame to open an 11-2 advantage. Alara Cashwell had two RBI and Shelby Pharr had two RBI in the inning.
The Lady Red Devils went relatively quietly in the fourth, giving West Bladen a chance to add runs — which they did. The Lady Knights plated five more runs, sending 10 hitters to the plate and getting seven more walks from Red Springs pitching to open a 16-2 lead.
The Lady Red Devils tried to prolong the game, scoring twice in the top of the fifth behind a pair of West Bladen errors, but fell far short.
Collins earned the win from the circle for the Lady Knights, twirling the complete-game, three-hitter. She gave up one walk and struck out four.
At the plate for West Bladen, Pharr was 2-for-3 with two RBI; Collins was 1-for-1; Carley Dawson had three walks and three stolen bases; Abby Dawson was 1-for-3; Kyla Reed had three walks and two stolen bases; and Cashwell was 1-for-1 with three stolen bases and two RBI.
The Lady Knights were issued a total of 17 walks in the game.