West Bladen’s Lady Knights open the NCHSAA Class 2A softball play-offs at home Wednesday night against the Franklinton Lady Rams, the fourth-place team from the Northern Carolina Conference. Game time is 6:30 p.m.
Coach Joey Autry’s Lady Knights had a 10-game winning streak stopped Saturday at Midway. West Bladen finished league-play in second-place behind Class 1A foe Heide Trask with an 11-3 league record.
Junior Logan Autry leads the West Bladen hitters with a .452 batting average and has 33 hits and 30 runs scored. Junior Laikyn Pait follows with a .438 average and has 32 hits, 29 runs batted in and 7 doubles.
Freshman Carley Dawson is batting .434 with 33 hits, 21 rbi’s and 7 doubles. Junior catcher Alanna Ludlum has a .403 average with 29 runs, 29 hits, 23 rbi’s and 8 doubles.
Junior pitcher Sophia Singletary has posted a 10-8 record with a 2.80 earned run average and anchors the West Bladen pitching staff.
Hard-throwing junior Summer Jacobs leads the Lady Rams into the play-offs. Jacobs has a 10-6 record with a 3.19 earned run average and has struck out 156 batters in 101 innings while walking only 12.
Jacobs also leads Franklinton at the plate with a .519 batting average, 27 hits and 11 runs batted in. Freshman Charli Bacon has cracked 20 hits and has a .488 batting average. Freshman Shea Seward has 21 hits and a .467 average and leads the team with 21 stolen bases in 21 attempts.
All six of the Lady Ram losses were to Northern Carolina powers South Granville, Bunn and Roanoke Rapids. South Granville is the defending state Class 2A softball champion, and Bunn was the 2015 Eastern Class 2A runners-up.
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