[slideshow_deploy id=’47361′]
Photos by Kenneth Armstrong
Senior Miller Heustess struck out the St. Pauls lead-off batter for the final out with the tying run at third base to clinch a 12-11 non-conference softball victory for East Bladen Wednesday night at East.
St. Pauls had scored 2 runs in the top of the seventh on 2 errors and Isabella Dugarte’s single, before Heustess struck out the next 2 batters to end the game.
Heustess struck out 10 batters, walked one and allowed 8 hits. Only 2 of the St. Pauls runs were earned.
St. Pauls took a 1-0 lead on Danielle Gray’s infield hit and 2 passed balls in the first inning.
East Bladen answered with 5 runs in the bottom of the inning. Sophmore Kaley Smith walked and moved up on a wild pitch. Miller Heustess belted a single to left-centerfield, and an error on the cut-off throw allowed Smith to score.
Heustess dashed home on a wild pitch as Faith Johnson walked. A pair of wild pitches and an error on Shardajah Brown’s grounder plated Johnson. Freshman Olivia Hollingsworth and Majesty Corbett drew walks, and Brown sprinted home on a wild pitch.
Savannah Ludum’s grounder brought home Hollingsworth and stretched the Lady Eagle lead to 5-1.
Freshmen Ja’Toya Moore-Peterson and Anna Kate White drew walks in the East Bladen second. Moore-Peterson advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Heustess’ grounder. White scampered home on a wild pitch to pad the lead to 7-1.
St. Pauls answered with 2 runs in the third on a passed third strike, 2 errors and a wild pitch.
East Bladen grew the lead to 10-3 in the bottom of the fourth. Moore-Peterson walked, and White walked. Moore-Peterson bolted home on a wild pitch, and Faith Johnson hammered a double to leftfield that drove in White. A pair of wild pitches brought in Johnson.
Gray singled, stole second and scored on Jallissa McKinnon’s single in the Lady Bulldog fifth inning.
The Lady Bulldogs whittled the East lead to 10-9 with 5 runs in the top of the sixth inning. Two singles, two infield hits and an error produced the runs. Heustess closed out the inning with a pair of strike-outs.
Johnson and Brown drew 2-out walks in the bottom of the sixth and both of them came around to score a pair of insurance runs on wild pitches as the East lead grew to 12-9.
Johnson belted the run-scoring double and scored 3 runs. Heustess singled, scored a run and drove one in. White, Brown and Moore-Peterson scored 2 runs each, and Smith and Hollingsworth scored one each. Ludlum drove in a run.
Gray pitched 5.2 innings and took the loss. She also batted 3-5 to lead the St. Pauls hitters. Meagan Butler and Isabella Dugarte both finished 2-4 at the plate.
The Lady Eagles captured their first win of the season and are now 1-2. East Bladen will host Clinton Friday at 6 p.m.
About Author
