LAKE WACCAMAW — With one game to go, grabbing a share of the league championship is possible for East Bladen.
Quite the accomplishment following Thursday’s 10-7 win at East Columbus in Three Rivers Conference high school softball, the sixth straight victory for the Lady Eagles. Second-year head coach Chris Davisson’s squad broke a seventh-inning tie with three runs.
It comes during a season in which East Bladen was outscored 59-24 in an 0-4 start, extending a losing streak that dated to 2019 and stood at nine games. The program is turning around from the futility of five consecutive losing seasons during which it lost 52 games and was a cumulative 25 games below .500.
The triumph was the second in three nights in which the Lady Eagles broke a 7-7 tie in their final at-bat, then got three outs with senior Kayleigh Raynor on the mound to win it.
• Playoffs: One week left, tight as can be. East Bladen has one league loss, same as Whiteville and West Bladen, and behind 6-0 South Columbus. With seven 2-A teams, the league should get two automatic berths. East Bladen has only its rivalry game at West Bladen left. East Bladen split with South Columbus and Whiteville. Numerous possibilies exist, including more than two teams tied for first or second.
• Lady Eagles: 21 hits; sophomore Karli Priest, 4-for-5, 2 RBI; sophomore Laura Davisson, 4-for-5, RBI, double; junior Mariah Smith, 3-for-5, 3 RBI; sophomore Emma Turbeville, 3-for-5; sophomore AnnaGrey Heustess, 2-for-4, RBI; senior Alyssa Futrell, 2-for-4, 2 RBI; Raynor, 2-for-5, double; senior Carlie West, 1-for-4, RBI.
• Seventh inning: Having blown leads of 6-2 and 7-6 in the first four innings, Raynor got a one-out double. With two out, consecutive hits were delivered by Turbeville, Priest, Smith and Futrell.
• Next: East Bladen 6-1 Three Rivers, 7-5 overall, at West Bladen on Thursday; East Columbus 3-4 Three Rivers, 8-4 overall, at Fairmont on Tuesday.