DUBLIN – Junior Scott Bowen blasted a 2-run, walk-off double that lifted West Bladen to a 6-5 Four County Conference baseball victory over Midway Tuesday night.
The Knights trailed 5-4 entering the home half of the seventh, but senior Weston Pidgeon beat Midway relief pitcher Chandler Williford to first base for an infield hit. Senior T. J. Guyton hammered a double to right-centerfield, and senior Jarrett Williams was walked to load the bases.
One out later Bowen ripped a drive over the leftfielder’s head that scored Pidgeon and Guyton with the tying and winning runs.
“Scott had a big night at the plate,” said Knight Coach Kim Cain. “He was 3 for 4, and the only time they got him out he almost took the thirdbaseman’s head off. On the mound he threw the ball well and pitched out of 2 or 3 jams.”
Bowen started on the mound and pitched 6.2 innings before reaching the pitch-count limit. The righthander allowed 7 hits, 5 runs – 3 earned – and 5 walks while striking out four.
Senior lefthander Ian Sykes relieved with 2 out and 2 runners on in the seventh. After hitting the first batter he faced, he struck out Midway’s starting pitcher, Carson Calcutt, with the bases-loaded to pick up the win.
An error and two hits led to a pair of unearned Midway runs in the first inning. Williams beat out an infield hit in the bottom of the first, and senior Trent West swatted a single to rightfield. Bowen laced a single to centerfield that scored Williams and trimmed the margin to 2-1.
In the bottom of the second, freshman catcher Jake Butler was hit by a pitch. His courtesy runner, Cody Garner, advanced on an infield out and raced home to tie the game when Pidgeon laced a single to centerfield.
Midway turned two walks and a throwing error into a run in the third inning. Williford singled and scored on Calcutt’s 2-out single in the fourth to put the Raiders ahead 4-2.
Bowen roped a single to centerfield to begin the fourth inning. Senior Caleb Sholar was hit by a pitch, and Butler and senior Hunter Pait drew walks that forced home courtesy runner Sykes with a run.
Pidgeon drilled a single to left-centerfield that scored Sholar and tied the game 4-4, but Garner, the courtesy runner for Butler, was thrown out at the plate. Moments later Pait was tagged out at the plate trying to score on a wild pitch.
Senior Jake Clark led off the Midway seventh with a single, stole second base and went to third when the throw went into centerfield. Matthew Nunnery’s bloop single put Midway ahead 5-4.
Bowen batted 3-4 with a double and 3 runs batted in. Pidgeon also finished 3-4 at the plate with 2 rbi’s and a run scored. Guyton batted 2-4 with a double and a run scored.
Williams and Trent West added one hit each. Williams, Sholar, Garner, and Sykes scored one run each. Pait had an rbi. Firstbaseman Williams also had a couple of big catches in short right field.
“This was a big win for us,” said Coach Cain. “We finally beat them for the first time in 4 years. We had them on the ropes last time (a 5-4 loss at Midway).”
West Bladen improves to 10-3 in league play and 12-9 overall. The Knights host East Bladen Thursday at 7 p.m. Midway and East Bladen are tied for the top spot in the league with identical 11-2 records.
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