By Sonny Jones
The West Bladen baseball team enters the final week of the regular season as the top-ranked 2A East team in the N.C. High School Athletic Association’s Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).
The Knights, East Bladen baseball, girls’ soccer and softball teams, and the West Bladen softball team are expected to qualify for the upcoming state playoffs.
Baseball and softball state playoff pairings are expected to be announced May 5 with first-round games scheduled May 6. Girls’ soccer pairings are expected to be announced May 9 with first-round games scheduled May 12.
Although there are exceptions, the top 32 ranked teams in each classification of the N.C. High School Athletic Association’s East RPI will qualify for postseason berths. Conference champions are seeded first based on RPI, then the remainder of the field is determined by RPI.
The Ratings Percentage Index formula includes a teams’ winning percentage, the winning percentage of opponents and the winning percentage of opponents’ opponents. It’s a way of rewarding teams that may lose against stronger competition than a team that wins against weak competition.
Here are the rankings as of Sunday morning with upcoming opponent’s records in parenthesis:
BASEBALL
WEST BLADEN
• Record: 14-4 overall, 6-2 Southeastern Conference
• RPI: .655583
• Rank: 1 in 2A East
• This Week: Tuesday home vs. Red Springs (6-14); Thursday home vs. East Bladen (10-9); Friday at Red Springs
• Last Week: Beat Overhills 13-1; Beat South Columbus 9-4; Beat South View 9-6
• Outlook: The Knights are in a three-way tie with Midway (No. 2 RPI) and Clinton (No. 10 RPI) for first place in the conference. A pair of wins against Red Springs would assure them of no worse than a tie for first and, most likely, the conference’s top seed based on RPI. The non-conference game against East Bladen could determine if West Bladen is No. 1 overall in 2A East.
EAST BLADEN
• Record: 10-9 overall, 7-5 Waccamaw Conference
• RPI: .543150
• Current Rank: 7 in 1A East
• This Week: Monday at Clinton (15-4); Wednesday home vs. East Duplin (12-7); Thursday at West Bladen (14-4)
• Last Week: Beat Village 13-6; Lost to Freedom Christian 8-7; Beat Wake Christian 7-4
• Outlook: The Eagles most likely will host a first-round game whether it’s as the conference’s top 1A team or based on RPI, but a win or two in three non-conference games against teams with winning records wouldn’t hurt. If East Columbus wins both of its games against West Columbus this week, then the Gators would be the top 1A team. If not, then East Bladen has a chance to be the top 1A team.
SOFTBALL
WEST BLADEN
• Record: 8-7 overall, 5-3 Southeastern Conference
• RPI: .533446
• Rank: 16 in 2A East
• This Week: Tuesday home vs. Red Springs (1-19); Friday at Red Springs
• Last Week: Did not play
• Outlook: The Knights will be in the playoffs. The question is whether they will play a first-round game at home. A pair of wins against Red Springs this week won’t help their case because of the Red Devils’ record. The top 16 rated teams will host a game, but lower-ranked conference champions would jump ahead of West Bladen in playoff seeding.
EAST BLADEN
• Record: 7-7 overall, 6-6 Waccamaw Conference
• RPI: .492879
• Rank: 20 in 1A East
• This Week: Monday at Clinton (4-12); Wednesday home vs. East Duplin (11-7)
• Last Week: Did not play
• Outlook: The Eagles will be in the playoffs, but don’t have a realistic chance of playing a first-round game at home. A couple of non-conference wins in the final week would help a team that lost its last two games before spring break. East Bladen had won six straight prior to those two losses.
GIRLS’ SOCCER
EAST BLADEN
• Record: 12-1-1 overall, 10-1 Waccamaw Conference
• RPI: .551179
• Rank: 5 in 1A East
• This Week: Monday at Hoke County (7-12); Wednesday home vs. Midway (5-9)
• Last Week: Did not play
• Outlook: The Eagles will be the conference’s 1A champion and host a first-round game. East Bladen hasn’t lost since being shut out 8-0 at home by Heide Trask. The Eagles then beat Trask 2-0 three days later. There are four games remaining to tune up for the playoffs.
WEST BLADEN
• Record: 2-14-3 overall, 1-4-1 Southeastern Conference
• RPI: .335143
• Rank: 47 in 2A East
• This Week: Monday home vs. South Brunswick (4-9-3); Tuesday home vs. Red Springs (10-6-0); Friday at Red Springs
• Last Week: Did not play
• Outlook: The Knights will wrap up their season this week and will not make the state playoffs.
Author: Sonny Jones
About Author
