BURGAW – Braylon Cromartie pitched a 1-hit shutout and struck out 5 batters to lead East Bladen to a 13-0 Waccamaw Conference junior varsity baseball victory over Pender Monday.
Coach James Ben Daly’s Eagles improved to 2-0-1 in Waccamaw play and 3-1-2 overall. The two teams will meet again this week at East Bladen.
In the East 1st inning, Zach Sholar cracked a lead-off single, stole 2 bases then dashed home on Tyler Eason’s fielder’s choice. Isaiah Lee and Jaxon Hair ripped singles to right field, and Easton Bostic drove in both Lee and Hair with a single that pushed the Eagle lead to 3-0.
Cade Rogers yanked a single to right field to start the East 2nd inning, and Sholar walked. Both runners advanced on a passed ball then both scored as Eason reached base on an error. Daly smoked a single to center field that scored Eason for a 6-0 Eagle lead.
Hair and Bostic drew walks, and J. D. McArthur was hit by a pitch to begin the Eagle 3rd inning. Hair dashed home on a passed ball, Cromartie’s sacrifice bunt scored Bostic. Sholar was hit by a pitch, before Eason laced a single to left that scored McArthur and padded the lead to 9-0.
Walks to Lee, Hair and Bostic began the East 4th inning. Lee circled the bases on a stolen base, a wild pitch then another stolen base. Hair advanced on a stolen base and an error then scored on a wild pitch. Cromartie reached base on an error, and Bostic and Cromartie both scored on passed balls.
Sholar, Rogers, Eason, Daly, Lee, Hair and Bostic all connected for 1 hit each for the Eagles. Hair scored 3 runs, and Bostic, Lee and Sholar scored 2 runs each. Rogers, Eason, McArthur and Cromartie scored 1 run each. Eason finished with 3 runs batted in. Bostic added 2 RBIs, and Daly and Cromartie had 1 RBI each.
East Bladen 333 40 — 13-7-0
Pender 000 00 — 0-1-4
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