Weston Hilburn hit two home runs and drove in five runs Monday night sparking West Bladen to a 9-6 win against host South View and the championship of the Randy Ledford Memorial Easter Baseball Tournament while East Bladen placed third after beating Wake Christian 7-4 in the Freedom Christian Easter Tournament.
KNIGHTS UNBEATEN
Hilburn belted a three-run homer in the second inning and a two-run homer in the sixth as the Knights (14-4) won their three games in the four-team, round-robin tournament in Hope Mills.
Brady Durden got the win. The right-handed pitched went 5.2 innings, yielding six runs (one earned) on three hits, struck out three and walked two. Tyler Lewis pitched the final 1.1 innings, retiring the side in order in the seventh.
Cade Allen and Aiden Russ each had two hits in an 11-hit West Bladen attack.
Hilburn’s second blast gave the Knights an 8-1 lead in top of the sixth. However, South View rallied for five runs in the bottom of the sixth that made the score 8-6.
West Bladen added an insurance run in the top of the seventh when Allen led off with a single, moved to second on a fielding error and scored on Lewis’ line single to left.
The Knights outscored their three opponents 30-11 in the tournament.
West Bladen returns to the field April 29 against Red Springs in a Southeastern 2A Conference game.
EAGLES FINISH THIRD
East Bladen scored four runs in the first inning and three in the third en route to a 7-4 win against Wake Christian in the third-place game of the Freedom Christian Easter Tournament in Fayetteville.
Isaiah Lee and Colton Lee each had two hits and Jayce Hatcher and Tyler Eason each drove in two runs for the Eagles, who won two of three games in the six-team tournament.
Davion Lewis, Hatcher, Eason and Braylon Cromartie combined to scatter seven hits and allow four runs while striking out four and walking two.
Zach Sholar singled home Andrew Musselwhite for East Bladen’s first run in the first inning uprising. Hatcher drove home two with a single to center. Eason capped it with a sacrifice fly to left.
Wake Christian cut it to 4-3 in the second inning, but the Eagles three-run third put them back in control. Omar Powell scored on a passed ball, Eason drove home Lee with a single to right and Hatcher stole home to account for the runs.
East Bladen (10-9) is scheduled to finish the regular season with three non-conference games beginning April 28 at Clinton. The Eagles went 7-5 in Waccamaw 1A/2A Conference play.
Randy Ledford Memorial Easter Tournament Results
Saturday, April 19
Overhills 4, South View 2
West Bladen 12, Overhills 1
West Bladen 9, South Columbus 4
South Columbus 21, South View 3
Monday, April 21
Overhills vs. South Columbus
West Bladen 9, South View 6
Freedom Christian Easter Tournament Results
Friday, April 18
East Bladen 13, Village Christian 6
Freedom Christian 19, Seventy-First 4
Saturday, April 19
Freedom Christian 8, East Bladen 7
Burlington Christian 8, Village Christian 4
Wake Christian 16, Seventy-First 0
Burlington Christian 2, Wake Christian 1
Monday, April 21
East Bladen 7, Wake Christian 4
Village Christian 5, Seventy-First 4
Burlington Christian 7, Freedom Christian 2
Author: Sonny Jones
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