By John Clark
BLADENBORO – Senior Rylee Chadwick pitched a 4-hit shutout and struck out 11 batters to lead West Bladen to a 3-0 Southeastern Athletic Conference softball victory over East Bladen Tuesday night.
Chadwick and East Bladen senior Karli Priest were locked in a scoreless pitching duel until the Lady Knights broke the ice in the 4th inning. Senior Kylie Durden raked a single to right field, and freshman Kali Allen reached base on an error. An overthrow on freshman Brenna Hester’s bunt scored Durden with the game’s 1st run.
Senior Mackenzie Singletary smashed a double down the right field line in the 6th inning. Chadwick hammered a double off the center field fence that plated junior Megan Pait, the courtesy runner for Singletary. Junior Gracie Faircloth’s sacrifice bunt scored Chadwick and padded the lead to 3-0.
‘I am give out,” said Lady Knight Coach Pam Stephens. “We worked hard for that one. The bunt game made a big difference. Rylee was on point tonight, and Karli pitched well for them too.”
Chadwick didn’t walk a batter and the Lady Eagles had 6 baserunners but never got a runner past 2nd base. At the plate Chadwick was 2-for-3 with the RBI double and a run scored. Durden batted 2-for-3 with a run scored. Singletary slugged the double, and senior Madison Taylor belted a single. Faircloth had an RBI, and Pait scored a run.
Priest pitched a 5-hitter, struck out 5, walked one and only 2 of the 3 West runs were earned. Freshman Jenna Brice batted 2-for-3 to lead the Lady Eagle hitters, and freshman Niyah Wooten and sophomore Mollie Tolar connected for 1 hit each.
The Lady Knights improved to 3-0 in the SAC-7 and 7-5 overall. East Bladen is now 2-3 in league play and 4-6 overall. The two teams will play again Friday night at East Bladen.
East Bladen 000 000 0 — 0-4-3
West Bladen 000 120 x — 3-5-2
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