BLADENBORO – The West Bladen Knights handled business against the St. Pauls Bulldogs with a 13-3 victory in a SAC 6 Conference match-up last Friday.
West Bladen junior JT Hepler cracked a solo homerun over the right-field fence to tie the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the third inning. The Bulldogs were able to get out the inning on a double-play to continue their fight against the Knights. West Bladen’s Brady Durden pitched four innings for the host and his final appearance on the mound was quick and painless as he was able to sit down the side in three straight outs to conclude the top of the fourth inning.
The Knights then exploded for nine runs in their half of the fourth inning to shift momentum firmly on their side. Senior Allister Russ smacked an RBI-single to bring a runner around to score and an unforced error from the Bulldogs allowed the 12th run to scamper across home plate unimpeded. St. Pauls’ coaching staff sensed the game getting out of hand and they pleaded for an adequate response in their teams next at-bat.
West Bladen sophomore Ashton Davis replaced Durden on the mound in the next inning and he struck out the first two batters he faced. St. Pauls’ senior Josh Garner was able to rattle a single off his bat and junior Cameron McNeill was able to show patience in the batters box to earn a walk. Davis barely flinched on the mound as he proceeded to strikeout the next batter with a fastball to conclude the top half of the inning.
West Bladen’s Garrett Dunham led-off the bottom half of the inning with a double down the left-field line to give his team a runner in scoring position. Hepler then delivered the final blow with an RBI-single as the Knights secured the victory in five innings. Junior Tyler Lewis, Dunham and Hepler led the way for the Knights in the slugging department with three hits a piece. Durden also had three RBI’s on one hit against the Bulldogs last Friday as one of the Knights leaders in the batting box.
The host had a total of 14 hits and 11 RBI’s as a team during their second conference test of the season. West Bladen has moved to an overall record of 7-1 and after two straight victories over St. Pauls’ last week, they started SAC 6 Conference action with a 2-0 start. The Boys out of Bladenboro will hit the road this Tuesday to take on the Clinton Darkhorses for another SAC 6 match-up.
Clinton opened conference action against the defending conference champions, the Midway Raiders last week. The Raiders routed the Dakrhorses for an 8-1 victory last Tuesday on their home ground, with a junior Wyatt Scott leading the way with two RBI’s on a single hit. Clinton were able to get their revenge on the diamond a few days prior with a 6-4 victory at home against the Raiders. Clinton moved to an overall record of 7-3 on the season and moved to 1-1 in conference action.
Midway’s overall record moved to 6-4 and they fell to 1-1 in SAC 6 competition with plenty of games left on the schedule. The Raiders will take on the Fairmont Golden Tornadoes in their next game this Tuesday. Fairmont has an overall record of 7-5 but they’ve started their SAC 6 slate with a couple of wins over the Red Springs Red Devils.