Midway senior Trey Gregory attempting to steal second base.
WEST BLADEN BASEBALL
THURSDAY RESULT
BLADENBORO-The West Bladen Knights defeated the St. Pauls Bulldogs for a 4-3 victory on Thursday in a SAC 7 clash. West Bladen honored six seniors for one of their last home games of the year; the following seniors that were honored were Hunter Smith, Kaden Revels, Aaron Wren, Garrison Carr, Hunter Elks and Bryce Fuller.
West Bladen had to break a 2-2 deadlock in extra innings to overcome their opponents in the ninth. Fuller scored two runs while leading the Knights in slugging with a 2-for-4 performance at the plate and finished the day with an RBI. Sophomores Garrett Dunham and Bryce Durden combined arm strength with Carr and Fuller on top of the mound to hold off the Bulldog lineup. The Knights finished the day with seven team hits and the hard fought victory.
FRIDAY RESULT
BLADENBORO-The Midway Raiders defeated the West Bladen Knights for an 11-9 victory on Friday for a SAC 7 clash. The Raiders jumped out in front with a 5-3 lead but got a chance to extend their lead in the top of the fifth inning. Senior Try Gregory smoked a single to center field but was caught stealing second base for an early out for the Raiders.The Raiders were able to get two on base after discipline at the plate rewarded them with freebies.
Midway got their sixth run across the plate after senior Davis Williams beat the double-play throw to first. The Knights were able to get out of the inning on a fly-ball to center field. Sophomore Dale Martin took to the mound for the Raiders and he showed off his arm talent in the fifth with two straight strikeouts down the middle. The Knights left the bottom of the fifth with nothing and they were back defending for their lives in the sixth inning.
Midway were able to extend their lead with Gregory blasting a single to left field to bring the seventh run across home plate. Freshman Carson Tew followed it with a 2-RBI single to center field to bring the score to 9-3. West Bladen senior Hunter Smith took the mound as relief and struckout the first batter he faced to help dig the Knights out of a hole. The Raiders would go on to score two more times before the final out to end the top of the sixth inning.
The Knights fought back in their half of the sixth inning and were able to score six runs to close the gap at 11-9. The Raiders were held scoreless in their half of the seventh but senior pitcher Hunter Tyndall was able to save the victory for his squad.
Midway secured their second straight SAC 7 title with the win against their opponents. West Bladen ended their regular season with an overall record of 13-8 and a conference record of 6-6 for a fourth place finish in the SAC 7. They improved a lot since last season and went from last place in the SAC 7 to fourth in a year’s time. The Knights are predicted to host their first round state playoff game when the brackets will be drawn up this Monday.
EAST BLADEN
ST. PAULS-The East Bladen Eagles defeated the St. Pauls Bulldogs for an 11-3 victory on Friday in SAC 7 clash. East Bladen senior Evan Pait led his team in slugging with a 3-for-4 performance and batted in 2-RBI’s. Junior Jake Futtrell also had an excellent day at the plate with a 3-for-3 performance and he also batted in 2-RBI’s in the Eagles blowout victory. Junior Lee Barnes combined arm strength with Futtrell on top of the mound to cause the Bulldogs lineup migraines. The Eagles ended their regular season on a high with five straight victories after a slow start to the season. They finished in third place of the SAC 7 with a 7-5 record and punched their ticket to the postseason. East Bladen still have a chance of hosting their first round playoff game based on their strength of schedule.