CLINTON — Three West Bladen tennis players will represent the Knights at the Class 2-A regionals in Goldsboro on Friday after earning berths at the Four County Conference Tournament on Wednesday at Clinton.
Victor Jacome, the Knights’ No 1 singles player, finished second in the tournament, while the West Bladen No. 2 doubles duo of Matthew Bobby and Manuel Arvizu took third place in the conference tournament to qualify.
“We don’t know yet who we’ll be facing when we get there (to regionals), but we’re pleased with the representation we’ll have and look forward to playing,” said West Bladen coach Dennis Rutland.
Also recently, Jacome was voted by conference coaches as the Four County Conference Player of the Year. The senior captain finished the regular season with a 14-1 record at No. 1 singles. He also had an 11-4 mark as part of the No. 1 doubles team for West Bladen.
The Knights finished the regular season with a record of 10-5 ocverall and 4-2 in the conference.
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Softball
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— In Teachey on Thursday, the Lady Eagles found themselves in a 12-0 hole after the first three innings and went on to drop a 12-2 Four County Conference verdict to Wallace-Rose Hill.
The Lady Bulldogs plated two runs in the first, four in the second and exploded for six runs in the third.
East Bladen avoided the shutout with two runs in the fourth when Emily Scott led off with a single and, after a fielder’s choice, an error and Lauren Merritt’s fielder’s choice scored a run. Anna Kate White then laced an RBI single for the other run.
The Lady Eagles, now 4-10 overall and 3-9 in the conference, were outhit by an 11-2 margin in the game.
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Baseball
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— The Eagles, needing just one win to clinch at least part of the Four County Conference crown, lost their second straight game when Wallace-Rose Hill knocked them off on Thursday, 11-3.
East Bladen is now 14-5 overall and 10-2 in the conference.
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Soccer
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— Lacey Suggs took her talents to Teachey on Thursday and recorded a second straight four-goal game to lead the Lady Eagles past Wallace-Rose Hill in a Four County Conference match, 6-1.
Suggs scored just 6 minutes into the match, then added another goal about 10 minutes later for a 2-0 lead.
But the Lady Bulldogs scored just after the midway point of the first half to cut the deficit in half before Suggs got the goal back — and her hat trick — as the half was winding down on a penalty kick.
East Bladen’s birthday girl, Maddie West, took a pass from Justyna Gargala early in the second half and fired a shot into the back of the net for a 4-1 Lady Eagles lead and, later in the half, Suggs scored again and Claire Campbell added a penalty kick score to seal the win.
East Bladen is now 16-2 overall and 10-2 in the conference.