03/29/2024
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FAYETTEVILLE – Senior Spencer Scott pitched a 7-hit shutout and struck out eight batters to lead East Bladen to a 4-0 victory over West Bladen Monday in the second round of the Bulldog Baseball Easter Tournament at Terry Sanford High.

Scott didn’t issue a walk and was locked in a 1-0 pitchers’ duel with Knight junior Nolan Bryant until the Eagles tacked on 3 insurance runs in the seventh inning.

Sophmore Zach Meares led off the Eagle seventh with a single, but Bryant picked him off first base. Senior Pierce Melvin reached base on an error, and junior Gabe Barber belted a single to centerfield.

Freshman lefthander Kaiden Stanley relieved Bryant, and enior Shy Pone poked a double just inside the leftfield line that scored Jay McKoy, the pinch-runner for Melvin. After Freddy Wooten walked, sophmore Brady Hollingsworth drilled a single to right-centerfield that scored Barber and Pone for a 4-0 lead.

The Eagles had grabbed the 1-0 lead in the first inning. Pone yanked a one-out single to right, and Wooten followed with a single. Hollingsworth lined a single to centerfield that scored Pone, but the Knights turned a double play to end the inning.

East Bladen loaded the bases with two-out in the second, but a ground-out ended the inning. Seniors Shawn Oxendine and Dalton Pait cracked one-out singles in the Knight third, but Oxendine was thrown out at the plate trying to scored on Pait’s hit and a throw back to third nailed Pait and ended the inning.

Junior Braylon Williamson beat out an infield hit to begin the seventh inning, and David Valenta reached base on an error. However Scott regrouped and struck out the next two batters, and a ground-out ended the game.

Hollingsworth knocked in 3 runs with a 3-4 game at the plate. Barber and Wooten both finished with 2-3 games. Pone batted 2-4 with a double, a run batted in and scored twice. Meares and Melvin added one hit each. Jay McKoy and Barber scored runs.

Dalton Pait batted 2-3 with a double to lead the Knight hitters. Junior Logan West, Bryant, Williamson, Valenta and Oxendine connected for one hit each for the Knights.

Bryant pitched 6.2 innings for the Knights and was charged with 3 runs – one earned – on 9 hits, while walking none and striking out five. Stanley gave up a run on 2 hits and a walk in his 0.1 innings.

Coach Russell Priest’s Eagles improved to 14-4 on the season and will play Midway in Tuesday’s fifth-place game at 1 p.m. West Bladen will battle Cape Fear at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

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