DUBLIN – Seniors Trent West and Ian Sykes combined on a five-inning no-hitter Wednesday night as West Bladen defeated Pender 14-2 in Four County Conference baseball action.
Trent West pitched 3.1 innings, struck out 3, walked 3 and hit a batter. Sykes walked 4 and struck out one in his 1.2 innings on the mound. Both West and Sykes were charged with one run each in the fourth inning.
The Knights jumped in front with 3 runs in the first inning. Senior T. J. Guyton laced a one-out double, and senior Jarrett Williams followed with a single. Trent West walked to load the bases, before junior Scott Bowen launched a sacrifice fly that scored Guyton.
Freshman Logan West reached on a hit that reloaded the bases. Senior Caleb Sholar knocked in Williams with a single to left-center. An error on freshman Jake Butler’s grounder scored Jonathan Ashworth, the courtesy runner for Trent West.
Guyton ripped a single to centerfield in the Knight second inning. Williams walloped a triple to deep right-centerfield that scored Guyton. Trent West and Bowen drew walks to load the bases, before Logan West lined a single to right-centerfield that scored Williams and Ashworth who was again running for Trent West.
Sholar’s fielder’s choice plated Bowen, and after a walk to Butler, senior Hunter Pait ripped a single to centerfield that brought home Logan West for an 8-0 West Bladen lead.
Guyton raked a single to left to start the Knight third inning. Williams seatted a single to leftfield, and Bowen yanked a single to left that scored Guyton. Logan West pulled a single through the left side that scored Williams, and Bowen sprinted home when the leftfielder misplayed the single.
After Pender turned 4 walks and a sacrifice fly into 2 runs in the fourth, the Knights answered with 2 runs in the home fourth. Pait walked, and senior Weston Pidgeon smacked a single to left.
Guyton and Williams were both hit by pitches to force home Pait. Sykes connected for a single to centerfield that scored Pidgeon and Guyton.
Williams batted 3-3 with a triple, 3 runs scored and a run batted in. Guyton finished 3-3 at the plate with a double and 4 runs scored. Logan West also turned in a 3-3 game with an rbi and a run scored. Pidgeon, Bowen, Sykes, Sholar and Pait added one hit each as the Knights totaled 14 hits.
Sholar, Bowen and Sykes drove in 2 runs each. Pait had one rbi. Bowen and Ashworth scored two runs each, and Pait scored one.
Coach Kim Cain’s Knights improved to 8-3 in the league and 10-9 overall. West Bladen will travel to Clinton for a 6 p.m. game Thursday.
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