TARBORO- A last-inning Bladen County rally came up a run short as Tarboro held on for an 8-7 victory Saturday and advanced to the championship game of the State-Wide Activities Committee 16-and-Under State Softball Tournament.
The Bladen All-Stars finished in third place in the tournament.
Tarboro scored 3 runs in the first inning and 2 more in the third to take a 5-0 lead, before Bladen County answered with a run in the home third. Hannah Pait slammed a double and scored on Jordan Kinlaw’s fielder’s choice.
Katlynn Tatum and Natalie Ludlum drew walks to start a 4-run Bladen County fourth inning. Johanna Parker followed with a single that scored Tatum.
Suggs and Hannah Pait were both hit by pitches that forced home Ludlum. Kinlaw’s fielder’s choice plated Parker, and Suggs scored to slice the Tarboro lead to 6-5.
Tarboro pushed their lead back to 8-5 in the top of the fifth, but Kylee Ward and Sara Corriveau reached base with two out in the Bladen fifth and both scored to trim the final margin to 8-7.
Hannah Pait doubled, scored a run and drove in a run to lead the Bladen hitters. Kinlaw, Parker, Nesiah Davis-McKoy and Carlie West connected for one hit each for Bladen County.
Kinlaw drove in 2 runs, and Parker drove in one. Parker, Suggs, Tatum, Ward, Ludlum and Corriveau scored one run each.
Kinlaw finished with 7 hits in 9 at-bats (.778 average) in the tournament to lead the Bladen hitters. Hannah Pait batted 4-6 (.667), and Parker finished play with a .400 batting average. Davis-McKoy batted .333 for the tournament.
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