03/19/2024
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West Bladen’s bats came to life Saturday afternoon, collecting 13 hits and scoring nine runs.

Unfortunately, for the Knights, untimely errors accounted for five unearned runs in a 12-9 non-conference loss to West Columbus.

The loss dropped West Bladen’s record to 4-12. The Knights are 3-5 in the Four County Conference and return to league play Tuesday at Heide Trask. West Columbus is 12-8.

The 13 hits was the most for West Bladen since getting 15 on March 15 in a 9-0 win at Union. The nine runs was the fourth most in a game this season by the Knights.

Weston Pidgeon was 3-for-4 while Ray Jones was 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, two runs scored and three runs batted in to lead the West Bladen offense. Chandler Lennon, Jarrett Williams and Seth Britt each had two hits. Trent West and Donald McCullum each added a base hit. Britt scored twice while Williams, McCullum, Troy Edge, Jeremy Hunt and Caleb Sholar each scored once. Lennon and Britt each had a run batted in.

West started on the mound for the Knights and went five innings. He allowed nine runs — four earned — on five hits, struck out five, walked four and hit two. Williams pitched two innings and gave up three runs on three hits with a pair of walks, a hit batter and a strikeout.

Gage Hammonds led West Columbus, going 3-for-5 with a double and five RBIs. The Vikings were a perfect 10-for-10 in stolen bases.

West Columbus scored a pair of first inning runs on a RBI-double by Hammonds and a sacrifice fly by Dawson Elliott.

The Knights tied it in the second inning. Williams had an infield single, advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches and scored on Britt’s single to left. McCullum followed with a single to right that moved Britt to third. Jones followed with a sacrifice fly to left to drive home Britt.

West Columbus regained the lead with three runs in the third on only one hit, a pair of West Bladen errors and two walks. The Vikings added two unearned runs in the top of the fourth for a 7-2 advantage.

West Bladen answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth. Britt walked, stole second, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch.

West Columbus added two more unearned runs in the fifth for a 9-3 lead, but the Knights cut it to 9-7 with four runs in the bottom of the inning.

After an out, Williams singled up the middle. After the second out, McCullum reached on an error that sent pinch runner Caleb Sholar to second. Jones then lined a double to left that scored McCullum and Sholar. Edge reached on an outfield error that scored Jones. Hunt reached on an infield error and Edge scored the final run of the inning for West Bladen.

In the sixth, West Columbus had a run-scoring single by Hammonds, a sacrifice fly the Hunter Norris and a run-scoring single by C.J. Coleman that made it 12-7.

West Bladen scored twice in the bottom of the seventh. Jones cracked a leadoff double off the left-center field fence and scored when Hunt, again, reached on an error. After the second out, Lennon reached on an infield single that scored Hunt.

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