East Bladen’s Evan Pait during an at-bat against West Bladen.
Pait named “Player of the Week”
ELIZABETHTOWN — The player of the week for April 10-14 is East Bladen’s senior right-hander Evan Pait for his outstanding performance at the Terry Sanford Easter Classic last week. Pait was 1-of-3 Eagles selected to the All-tournament team for his outstanding play over the three days of the competition. He started his tournament on top of the mound in his team’s dominant Day 1 victory against Western Harnett.
Pait pitched a complete game against Western Harnett and he terrorized their lineup from top to bottom, allowing 3 hits the entire night. The Eagles ace struckout 10 of the last 12 batters to secure the victory and set up their Day 2 clash with defending champions Richmond. Pait had a quiet night at the plate during the Eagles victory but he was in the field making defensive stops to help his team advance against Terry Sanford in the championship.
The Eagles took on Terry Sanford in an entertaining slugfest for the title in which they fell short but Pait had an excellent night at the plate. He went 3-for-4 at the plate with one run scored in his team’s 12-9 defeat last Wednesday. Pait displayed all aspects of his game across the diamond last week and deserves the shout.
Honorable Mention: East Bladen junior right-hander Jake Futrell had an excellent pitching night against Richmond on Day 2 of the tournament. Futrell bounced back from conceding six runs in the early stages of the ball game to complete a dominant six inning outing. He struck out nine of the 28 batters he faced and walked one. Futrell also batted in a runner and scored twice in the same game to help his team advance to the championship game against Terry Sanford. He batted in a run on a sacrifice in his teams loss on the final day of the tournament.