[slideshow_deploy id=’89614′]
DUBLIN – West Bladen scored in every inning on Senior Night Thursday as the Knights outscored East Bladen 16-9 to finish in a second-place tie with the Eagles in the Four County Conference baseball standings.
Both teams had hopes of at least sharing the conference title entering Thursday’s play, but Midway blanked Union 10-0 to clinch the championship with a 12-2 record. Both East Bladen and West Bladen posted 11-3 conference records.
The Eagles finished the regular season with a 13-6 overall record and West Bladen has a 13-9 overall mark. Both teams will receive Class 2A play-off berths when the pairings are announced Monday.
In the top of the first inning, junior Sincere Smith walked, stole second and third base and dashed home to put East up 1-0 when the throw to third sailed into leftfield.
The Knights answered in the bottom half as senior Jarrett Williams walked and senior Trent West was hit by a pitch. Junior Scott Bowen crushed a triple to right-centerfield that plated Williams and Trent West and edged West ahead 2-1.
Sophmore Dan Tatum swatted a 2-out single to rightfield to begin the East second, and junior Deondre Newkirk slapped a single to right. Sophmore Shy Pone walked before Smith cracked a single to centerfield that scored Dan Tatum and Newkirk and vaulted East back in front 3-2.
Senior pitcher Caleb Sholar slammed a double to left-centerfield to start the Knight second. Consecutive walks to freshman Jake Butler, seniors Hunter Pait and Weston Pidgeon forced home senior Ian Sykes, the courtesy runner for Sholar. Williams launched a sacrifice fly to left field that scored senior Cody Garner, the courtesy runner for Butler, and put the Knights ahead 4-3.
Bowen led off the Knight third with a single to left, and freshman Logan West laced a single to rightfield. Sholar walked, and Bowen scooted home on a wild pitch. Pait walked, and Pidgeon blasted a double to right that scored Sykes, the courtesy runner for Sholar, and Pait. The trio of runs stretched the lead to 7-3.
Dan Tatum beat out an infield hit and took second on an error to start the Eagle fourth. Newkirk beat out a bunt single, and Tatum raced home from second on the play. Newkirk stole third base and scooted home on a wild pitch to trim the Knight lead to 7-5.
Trent West laced a single to right in the fourth, and the Knights perfectly executed the hit-and-run play as Bowen pulled a single right through the vacant spot that the shortstop had vacated. Trent West galloped home all the way from first base on the play.
Eagle starting pitcher Xavier Wooten reached the pitch count limit at that point and was relieved by Smith. Logan West greeted the new pitcher with a single to centerfield that brought home Bowen and padded the lead to 9-5.
East Bladen rallied to within 9-8 with 3 runs in the fifth. Sophmore Josh McKoy reached base on an error, and junior Brooks McGill walked. McKoy stole second and third base and scooted home on Dan Tatum’s sacrifice fly. Newkirk beat out an infield hit and a throwing error on the play scored McGill. Pone yanked a single to right that scored Newkirk.
Pait pulled a single to left, and Pidgeon lined a single to left to start the West Bladen fifth. Both Pait and Pidgeon sprinted home on wild pitches. Trent West and Bowen drew walks. Bowen stole second, and Trent West charged home when the throw second went into centerfield. Logan West delivered a single to centerfield that scored Bowen for a 13-8 Knight lead.
Senior Kyle Tatum drew a lead-off walk in the sixth, and junior Trey Storms relieved Sholar for the Knights. McGill walloped a triple to deep left-centerfield that scored Kyle Tatum.
Pidgeon walked, and Williams swatted a single to left to begin the Knight sixth. Trent West smoked a single to left that scored Pidgeon, and Williams scampered home from first when the ball was misplayed in leftfield. Bowen drilled a single to centerfield that scored Trent West and padded the lead to 16-9.
“This was a big win for us,” said Knight Coach Kim Cain. “We had a lot of timely hits – a lot of 2-out hits.”
Bowen batted a perfect 4-4 with a triple, 4 runs batted in and 3 runs scored. Logan West finished 3-5 at the plate with 2 rbi’s. Pidgeon was a perfect 2-2 with a double, 3 rbi’s and 2 runs scored. Sholar also batted 2-2 with a double and 2 runs scored.
Trent West finished 2-3 at the plate with an rbi and 4 runs scored. Williams and Pait added one hit each. Williams and Pait scored 2 runs each, and Williams had an rbi.
Newkirk batted 3-4 with 3 runs scored for the Eagles. McGill finished 2-3 at the plate with a triple, an rbi and a run scored. Dan Tatum turned in a 2-3 game with an rbi and 2 runs scored. Pone batted 2-3 with an rbi.
Smith and Wooten added one hit each for the Eagles. Smith drove in 2 runs, and Smith, Kyle Tatum, and McKoy scored one run each.
Wooten started on the hill and worked 3.2 innings for the Eagles, allowing 9 runs on 7 hits, 6 walks and 3 hit batters while striking out three. Smith relieved and pitched 2.1 innings, giving up 7 runs on 8 hits and 4 walks while striking out two.
Sholar pitched 5-plus innings to pick up the win for West Bladen. Sholar allowed 9 runs on 9 hits and 7 walks while striking out three. Junior Trey Storms pitched 2 innings of 2-hit scoreless relief and struck out three.
“Our pitchers hung in there and didn’t quit,” said Coach Cain. “Trey stepped up and did a great job. He practiced for the first time in 3 weeks yesterday.” Storms had been out with an illness since before Easter.
Ten Knight seniors were honored in pre-game ceremonies. They were Weston Pidgeon, T. J. Guyton, Trent West, Cody Garner, Caleb Sholar, Jarrett Williams, Jonathan Ashworth, Hunter Pait, Ian Sykes and team manager Michael McLamb.
About Author
