[slideshow_deploy id=’53295′]
It was a game befitting rivals. Tense. Exciting. Great plays. And a play at the plate to end it.
Right fielder Trent West threw out Deon’dre Newkirk at home plate as West Bladen upset Four County Conference champion East Bladen 3-2 on Saturday in the final game of the regular season.
West Bladen finished 7-7 in conference play and 8-14 overall. The Knights are unlikely to receive a state playoff berth when pairings are announced Monday, but were among several teams who appeared in the running for one of the final spots.
East Bladen wrapped up the league title Friday and finished 11-3 in the conference and 15-6 overall. The Eagles will be the top seed from the Four County Conference and are expected to host a first-round playoff game Wednesday.
West Bladen broke a 2-all tie in the top of the seventh. Chandler Lennon lofted a one-out double down the left field line. West reached on an infield error to put runners on first and second. After a strikeout, Seth Britt cracked a single up the middle that scored Lennon.
East Bladen put together a potential rally in the bottom of the seventh. Xavier Wooten opened with a liner to right that West made a diving catch for the first out. Alex Coates drew a one-out walk. Pinch-runner Newkirk moved to second on a wild pitch. Brooks McGill then walked to put runners on first and second. After a strikeout for the second out, Sincere Smith lined a single to right and Newkirk headed for home with the tying run. West fired the ball to catcher Brandan Carson, who put the tag on a leaping Newkirk to end the game.
The play set off a celebration by West Bladen players, who had a disappointing season beset by injuries. The Knights used six different catchers this season. Several players missed significant time because of injuries.
For East Bladen, it figures to be easy to set aside the loss and focus on the upcoming playoffs.
Jeremy Hunt picked up the win for West Bladen. The senior righthander entered the game in the fifth inning in relief of West. Hunt pitched three shutout innings on two hits with five walks and three strikeouts. West went four innings and allowed two hits and two runs with five walks and 10 strikeouts.
Wooten took the loss for the Eagles, but twice pitched out of bases-loaded jams without allowing a run. He scattered seven hits and allowed one earned run with eight strikeouts and three walks.
Britt and Ray Jones each with 1-for-2 with a run batted in for West Bladen, with Jones’ hit being a second-inning double that plated Donald McCullum with the first run of the game. Jarrett Williams had a triple. Troy Edge and Lennon each had doubles. Hunt and West each had singles. Pinch-runner Jonathan Ashworth scored a run.
Smith, Kyle Tatum, Ty Watkins and McGill each had a hit for East Bladen. Watkins and McGill had RBIs. Wooten and Tatum scored the Eagles’ runs.
After a scoreless first inning, the Knights struck with a two-out rally in the second. McCullum reached on an error and Jones followed with a line smash to the fence in left-center that scored McCullum.
West Bladen made it 2-0 in the fourth. West led off with a single to right, went to second on an error, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Britt and scored on a wild pitch.
East Bladen countered with a run in the bottom of the fourth. Wooten walked, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on McGill’s one-out single to right.
West Bladen loaded the bases with one out in the fifth on a double by Edge, infield single by Hunt and a walk to Weston Pidgeon, but Wooten struck out the next two batters.
The Eagles tied it in the fifth. Tatum walked, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on Watkins’ single to center. East Bladen had the bases loaded, but Knights’ second baseman Jones made a leaping catch of McGill’s line drive and doubled up a runner at second to end the threat.
West Bladen’s Williams opened the sixth with a triple to right-center, and the Knights loaded the bases with one out, but Wooten, again, struck out the next two batters.
In the bottom of the sixth, East Bladen loaded the bases with no outs on two walks and a fielder’s choice on a sacrifice bunt attempt by Quinton Bedsole. However, the next batter grounded to second where Jones got the force out at home, then there was a strikeout and fly out to end the inning.
That set the stage for the dramatic seventh inning and the end to the high school baseball regular season.
About Author
