East Bladen’s Jake Futrell with a big swing at the plate.
Alex Brooks | Bladen Journal
ELIZABETHTOWN — The West Bladen Knights defeated the East Bladen Eagles for a 5-3 victory on Friday for a SAC 7 conference match-up. Sophomore right-hander Brady Durden started on the mound for the Knights and senior right-hander Evan Pait started on the mound for the Eagles. The game was scoreless for the first two innings until sophomore Garrett Dunham smoked a single to center field to get two runs across the plate for the Knights. West Bladen sophomore slugger Cade Allen reached second base after crushing a ball to right field but Dunham couldn’t beat the throw home to make it three runs.
The Eagles attempted to respond in their half of the third but baserunning mistakes cost them and the inning quickly concluded. Senior infielder Hunter Smith led off for the Knights in the fourth inning and got on base with a walk. Durden followed behind with a single to left field to get two runners on base with no outs. Pait didn’t flinch on the mound and struck out two straight batters to take some of the edge off the Eagles’ defense.
Junior outfielder Andre Moore battled with Pait at the next at-bat and forced a walk to load the bases with two outs. Sophomore outfielder Heziakiah Adams chopped an infield single to get two more runs across the plate to make the game 4-0 to end one-half of the fourth inning with momentum in the Knights’ favor.
East Bladen junior Tyler Johnson led off with an infield single for a positive start to the fourth inning for the host. Senior infielder Ty Mathis showed discipline at the plate and was able to walk to first to get two runners on base. Johnson would eventually round the bases to land on third and senior slugger Garrison Tatum brought him home with an infield single to get the Eagles their first run of the night. Senior Coleman Tatum followed his twin brother’s example and he singled to get Mathis across home plate to make the game 4-2.
Coleman Tatum replaced Pait on top of the hill to start the fifth inning for the Eagles and was able to get three quick outs with the help of his defense behind him. Johnson stepped up to the plate for an RBI single to right field to bring the host within one run of their opponents. Durden was able to protect the Knights’ lead with great pitching to get out of the fifth inning with a slight advantage.
West Bladen senior infielder Bryce Fuller batted in the final run of the night to give the Knights a two-run cushion with an inning and a half to play. The Knights now move to 3-1 in SAC 7 conference play and they’re currently tied for second with St. Pauls in the standings. They will travel away to Fairmont on Tuesday for another early test.