West Bladen freshmen Kali Allen during an at-bat.
West Bladen Softball
Thursday
BLADENBORO-The West Bladen Lady Knights defeated the St. Pauls Bulldogs for a 10-2 victory on Thursday in a SAC 7 clash. The Lady Knights celebrated their five seniors in one of their final home games in a West Bladen uniform on Thursday; the following seniors honored were Madison Taylor, Rylee Chadwick, Kylie Durden, Mackenzie Singletary, and Kaitlynn Brisson. West Bladen started the first two innings scoreless but their bats came alive in their half of the third inning with two runs crossing home plate.
The Bulldogs’ lineup struggled to make contact as Chadwick took to the center circle and provided the heat in seven innings of work. She held her opponents to three hits and struck out nine of the 31 batters faced. The Lady Knights extended their lead in the fourth inning with six more runs to create more separation between the two teams. St. Pauls was able to scrape two runs in their half of the fifth but weren’t able to close the deficit.
Durden went 3-for-4 at the plate and she had three RBIs to lead the Lady Knights in slugging on Thursday night. West Bladen freshmen Kali Allen and junior Gracie Faircloth also had two RBIs to their names. Chadwick went 3-for-5 at the plate and scored three runs to add to her stellar performance in the center circle.
St. Pauls’ sophomore Madison Locklear went 1-for-4 at the plate and was responsible for batting in her team’s only two runs of the night. Junior Yomaris Vasquez and sophomore Kayla Williams combined arm strength in the center circle for the Bulldogs.
Friday
BLADENBORO — The Midway Lady Raiders defeated the West Bladen Lady Eagles for an 8-1 victory on Friday evening in a SAC 7 clash. The game was 1-1 during the first three innings before the Lady Raiders lineup exploded for four runs in their half of the fourth inning. The Lady Knights were able to load the bases on two outs but sophomore pitcher Jordyn Christopher didn’t flinch in the face of pressure and got the final out on a grounder to second base.
The Lady Knights were able to get out of the next inning unscathed but they still couldn’t find the answer to Christopher’s arm. Midway got three more runs to cross the plate in the seventh inning to put the game out of doubt and they secured their second straight SAC 7 conference title. Senior Jacie Byrd went 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs to lead the Lady Raiders in slugging.
West Bladen finished their regular season with an overall record of 15-7 and they were 10-2 in the SAC 7 for a second-place finish. The softball and baseball seedings for the NCHSAA State Playoffs will be on Monday with West Bladen to be slated with an away clash once the brackets are drawn.
East Bladen
ST. PAULS — The East Bladen Lady Eagles defeated the St. Pauls Bulldogs for a 9-7 victory on Friday in a SAC 7 clash. East Bladen finished their season with an overall record of 12-10 and they went 8-4 in the SAC 7 to finish third in the standings. The Lady Eagles rallied back from a slow start to the season to finish on a six-win run and they secured their place in the postseason. They will travel away for their first-round game when the brackets are drawn up on Monday.