West Bladen O’Mara McDonald making a move towards goal.
East Bladen’s Coleman Tatum on top of the mound.
East Bladen Karli Priest(far left) taking the center circle for her team.
BLADEN COUNTY — The ‘23 Spring season had a lot of great games and performances from the baseball diamond to the soccer pitch. East and West Bladen athletes represented their community throughout the regular season as well as the postseason against formidable opponents across the state and the SAC 7. West Bladen forward Lainey Autry was the Lady Knights’ biggest goal threat last season with 17 goals and 4 assists to end a memorable senior year.
Autry showed off her goalscoring capabilities against East Columbus with a three-goal performance and she also bagged an assist in the 5-2 victory. She had four hat tricks throughout the season and her goals were crucial for the Lady Knights in their push for the off-season. Eva Ayala-Martinez was another player the Lady Knights could rely on throughout the season for goals and assist as well.
Ayala-Martinez was the catalyst for the Lady Knights in a 5-2 comeback victory against Red Springs. Autry used her pace to get past defenders before sending in the game-tying shot after being down 1-nil to the Lady Red Devils in the first 25 minutes of the match. The Lady Red Devils took the lead once more at the start of the second half but Ayala-Martinez was able to equalize. The deadlock persisted until the ref blew the full-time whistle to put a stop to regulation and sent the game to overtime.
Ayala-Martinez bagged the third goal before the Lady Knights added two more goals to the tally in order to secure their first win in conference play. The East Bladen Lady Eagles were soaring last season and they made it to the third round of the NCHSAA 2A state playoffs with some solid defensive displays. East Bladen keeper Resse Hester and the Lady Eagles backline had over 13 shutout victories in 20 games played.
The Lady Eagles were sharp on the defensive side of the ball and it took a few games before they started to bang in the goals. Heidi Rebollar pulled the strings for the Lady Eagles in the center of the park and she had an uncanny ability to score from outside the penalty box. The combination of other offensive threats around her in winger Jackie Medina-Leal, midfielder Gabby Roballer, right-back Molly Evens and forward NeNe Ward allowed them to dominate their opponents.
West Bladen Baseball went from 6-14 to 14-9 in a year’s time to shock the SAC 7 with a stellar ‘23 Spring season. Brady Durden showed command on the mound in his sophomore season with the Knights, and he went 7-2 as a starter on the mound. Durden came in as relief and threw eight strikeouts against Clinton in a blowout victory. The Knights started the season hot with a 10-2 record and they were able to sweep their cross-county rival in a home-and-away series.
The Knights squeezed past East Bladen on the diamond after beating their rival by 10-7 in 14 innings across two games. East Bladen started their season sluggish but began to find their stride towards the backend of the season to book their ticket in the postseason. The Eagles were full of experience with seven seniors on the roster and they had some powerful hitters in their lineup. Zamar Lewis and Even Pait were a part of the group of seniors that helped lead the Eagles this season to third place finish in the SAC 7.
Lewis led the Eagles in six different statistical categories which included two home runs on the year. One of his two home runs on the season came against Richmond in an all-around solid team performance. Jake Furtell took the mound in the game against Richmond and threw nine strikeouts to cause his opponents nightmares. Pait was a key player for the Eagles and he was able to play multiple positions to help where his team needed him most. He displayed his versatility against St. Pauls with 15 strikeouts on top of the mound and he went 3-for-4 in the batters’ box with two RBIs in the blowout win.
The West Bladen Lady Knights were also dominant on the softball field with the help of SAC 7 “Player of the Year” Rylee Chadwick in their lineup. Chadwick was one of the senior leaders for the Lady Knights and she led by example with her stellar play. She went 8-2 as starting pitcher in conference play and she pitched 13 complete games to give her opponents nightmares. Chadwick pitched a shutout against East Bladen at home with 11 strikeouts and she allowed four hits in a complete game of work.
The East Bladen Lady Eagles took some time to find their rhythm in the softball season but were able to turn things around towards the end of the year. The Lady Eagles won six straight games at a crucial point in the season as they thrust themselves into the playoff conversation. Karli Priest was the Lady Eagles ace and she showed her worth when she threw a no-hitter against Red Springs in a 17-0 trouncing. The Lady Eagles lineup was stacked with capable hitters in Martha Simmons, Laura Davisson, Cabria Baldwin, Niyah Wooten, and Priest.
Both East and West Bladen had golfers to represent their schools on the course throughout the SAC 7 and state level. Issac Mendoza was one of the Knights’ premier golfers and he averaged a score of 89 in eight conference matches. Mendoza’s performances throughout the season resulted in a 26th-place finish at the 2A Mideast Regional with a score of 96.
East Bladen Bailey Williams dropped his season-best score of 81 in the first SAC 7 conference match of the year. Chase Knight also had a decent season on the course for the Eagles with a season-best coming towards the back-end of the schedule with a low of 78. Both of the Eagle golfers’ participated in the Mideast Regional where they both tied for 36th place.
West Bladen’s 4x200m relay team of Kiera Lewis, Trinity Van Eyken, Shanyla Hunter, and Azilliyah McDonald finished 4th place at the NCHSAA 2A Mideast Regional to book their trip to the state championship. They went on to run a season-best time of 1:52:37 for a 14th-place finish at the state meet.