East Bladen began the game scoring six runs, ended it with five runs and remained tied for first place in the Three Rivers Conference baseball standings near the halfway point of the season.
Brady Hollingsworth’s line single to left scored Lefredrick Wooten with the game-deciding run Friday night as the Eagles beat Red Springs 14-4 at Russell Priest Field. Wooten had driven in three runs prior with a bases-clearing triple to deep left field.
The game was stopped because of the 10-run rule.
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Photos by Kenneth Armstrong
East Bladen is 3-0 in the TRC, 6-3 overall. East Columbus also is 3-0 and West Columbus is 2-0. Each team is playing eight conference games. The Eagles are scheduled to play at West Columbus on Thursday.
Jacob Priest pitched the final 1.1 innings, struck out three and allowed only one base runner which came on an error. Sophomore Evan Pait started and allowed four runs – three earned – on six hits with four strikeouts, three walks and two hit batters.
Drew Sholar and Hollingsworth each had two hits to lead an eight-hit East Bladen attack. Zach Meares, Rasean McKoy, Coleman Tatum and Wooten each had a hit. The Eagles took advantage of eight walks issued by Red Springs’ pitchers along with four errors committed by the Red Devils.
After spotting Red Springs a run in the top of the first when Terrance Barefield singled, went to third on an errant pickoff attempt and scored on a wild pitch, the Eagles struck for six runs in their first at bat.
Meares and Ethan Johnson walked to open the inning. Wooten then reached on a sacrifice bunt when the pitcher made a wild throw to first that allowed Meares and Johnson to score. Wooten trotted home when Hollingsworth ripped a double to the gap in right-center. Sholar followed with a single that put runners on the corners. Pait reached on an error that drove home Hollinsworth. Sholar and courtesy runner Tatum scored on McKoy’s two-out single to right.
Red Springs countered with two runs in the top of the third, but East Bladen scored a pair in the bottom of the inning that made the score 8-3.
Sholar opened East Bladen’s third by reaching on an error and later scored when Raymond Autry reached on an error. Pait walked and later scored on a wild pitch.
Red Springs cut it to 8-4 in the fourth and had the bases loaded when Priest came to the mound for East Bladen. The senior right-hander struck out the first batter he faced to end the rally, then struck out two batters in the fifth.
East Bladen began its half of the fifith with a walk to Grayson Clark and a single by Tatum. With runners on second and third, Meares had an infield single that scored Clark. Johnson walked to load the bases. Wooten followed with his blast to the left field fence that cleared the bases and gave the Eagles a 13-4 lead. Hollingsworth’s single to left on a 1-0 pitch ended the game.
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