ROSE HILL – West Bladen pounded out 16 hits and took advantage of 11 walks Tuesday night in rolling to an 18-5 Four County 1A/2A Conference baseball win against the Union Spartans. The Knights rallied from an early 4-1 deficit to score 13 runs in the final two at bats in snapping a four-game losing streak.
Jeremy Hunt, Trevor Lesane and Weston Pidgeon each had three hits for West Bladen. Colby McLean and Joseph Miller had two hits. Trent West, Seth Britt and Jarrett Williams each had a base hit. Six of the Knights 16 hits were infield singles. Hunt, Lesane and Williams had doubles.
Williams drove in three runs with his bases-loaded, bases-clearing double in the sixth inning. Hunt, McLean, Britt and Pidgeon each had two RBIs. Lesane and Chandler Lennon each drove in a run. Lesane and Michael Pastore each scored three runs while Britt scored twice. Ten other Knights scored a run.
Trent West pitched the first five innings for West Bladen to earn the victory. He allowed four unearned runs in the first inning, then set down 11 consecutive batters before allowing a run in the fifth on a pair of walks, hit batter and ground out. Mason Hester struck out the side in the sixth to end the game.
West Bladen is 7-5 overall and 4-3 in the conference. The Knights are scheduled to play at Wallace-Rose Hill on Thursday and host non-conference opponent West Columbus on Saturday.
Union is 1-9 and 1-6.
West Bladen scored once in the top of the first on a one-out double by Lesane and a single by McLean. However, Union scored four times in the bottom of the inning on three walks, an error and fielder’s choice along with a two-run single by Zack Worley.
West Bladen took a 5-4 lead with a two-out rally in the third. West led off with a single and Pastore reached on a fielder’s choice. Britt walked. After the second out, Miller had an infield single to load the bases. Pidgeon followed with another infield single that scored Pastore. Hunt then had a two-run double that tied it at 4-4. After an intentional walk to Lesane that loaded the bases, McLean drew a walk that plated the fourth run of the inning.
The Knights blew it open in the top of the fifth, scoring six runs on a two-run single from Britt and a run-producing single from Pidgeon, along with an infield single from Lesane, four Union errors, a walk and hit batter. That gave West Bladen an 11-4 lead.
Union made it 11-5 in the bottom of fifth, but West Bladen countered with seven runs in the sixth, highlighted by Williams’ three-run double to deep right field.
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