03/28/2024
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Bladen County SportsEast Bladen’s remarkable run ended in the Class 2A Eastern Regional Basketball Championship game as North Pitt jumped out to an early 18-2 lead and defeated the Lady Eagles 55-37.

East Bladen senior Lacey Suggs recorded a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds. The Lady Eagle senior class of Suggs, Abby Ward, Christiana Cromartie and Miller Heustess produced a record of 102-11 over their high school career and were 31-1 this season.

Suggs had scored 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in a third-round 48-31 win over Jacksonville Northside.

Bladen County native Todd Pait was named head football coach at West Bladen. Pait, a 1999 Bladenboro High grad, played football at Appalachian State University and was the junior varsity football coach at West Bladen for the 2003 and 2004 football seasons.

Coach Pait joined the United States Army and served 11 years primarily with the 101st Airborne. He served three tours in Iraq and received the Bronze Star for Valor. He had been the defensive co-ordinator the prior two years at Sycamore High near Nashville, TN, and a defensive coach at Clarksville Academy in Clarksville, TN.

The Third Draft of the NCHSAA Realignment Proposal for the 2017-2021 school years was released in March and was more favorable for Bladen County High School Athletics.

The new proposal placed East Bladen and West Bladen in a ten-team conference with the Columbus and Robeson County Schools. The earlier drafts had the Bladen schools in a conference with schools ranging from East Duplin to Goldsboro to James Kenan and Spring Creek and with current conference members Clinton, Midway and Wallace-Rose Hill. Trips to those schools would have ranged from 1 hour to close to 2 hours one way.

West Bladen grad D. J. Mason scored 19 points in his final game for Campbell as his Camels were eliminated in the Big South Tournament. Mason averaged 10.7 points per game – third-highest on the team. The Clarkton native pulled down a team-high 6.3 rebounds per game.

Tar Heel native and West Bladen grad Rahu Purdie fired in 24 points to lead Lander to an 87-86 double overtime victory over Augusta in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship Game.  Purdie was named to the All-Tournament team.

Spring sports jumped into high gear. East Bladen’s baseball team won 6 of 9 games and was 3-0 in conference play. Senior Alex Coates opened the season with a one-hit 2-0 shutout of South Robeson then pitched a 2-hitter in an 11-1 win over St. Pauls. Coates drove in 3 runs with 3 hits, and catcher Kyle Tatum and Ty Watkins both batted 2-2 with a double each.

Coates struck out 10 in a 12-3 Four County win over Midway.  Tatum batted 3-5 to lead the hitters. The Eagles defeated Pender 8-2 behind rbi triples from Sincere Smith and Xavier Wooten. Tatum blasted a 2-run homer in the seventh inning of a 7-5 victory over Heide Trask. Smith batted 3-4 with a double and Coates was 2-3 with 2 doubles.

Lefthander Ty Watkins struck out 7 in four one-hit innings as the Eagles beat E. E. Smith 10-0 in the Hoyt/Edwards tournament at Douglas Byrd. Watkins batted 2-3 with a triple and 3 rbi’s. Wooten and Tatum were both 2-2. After losing to Scotland, the Eagles beat Grays Creek 7-4 in the third place game.  Tatum and Smith both batted 2-3, Coates was 2-4, and secondbaseman Quinton Bedsole ended the game with an unassisted double play.

East Bladen’s girls soccer team won 9 of their first 10 games. Hannah Devane posted a ‘Hat Trick’ of 3 goals in a 5-1 victory over Red Springs, and Lacey Suggs recorded a ‘Hat Trick’ in a 6-2 win over North Brunswick.  Anna Grace Long scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Red Springs.

Suggs piled up 3 goals and 4 assists in an 8-0 win over East Columbus and added 2 goals in a 3-1 win over Midway.

West Bladen’s baseball team claimed 3 March victories. Senior Jeremy Hunt struck out 10 and allowed only 2 hits in an 8-0 win over Union. Trent West batted 3-4 with 2 rbi’s, and Scott Bowen was 3-4.  Winning pitcher Chandler Lennon batted 3-4 with a triple in a 12-11 victory over Pender. West and Hunt cracked 2 hits each. Both of West’s hits were doubles.

The Lady Knight softball team also posted 3 victories in March. Kathryn Schultz pitched a one-hitter in a 20-1 win over St. Pauls. Catcher Alanna Ludlum and Jenna Dove both batted 3-4, and freshman Conner Brisson was 3-5 with a triple and 3 rbi’s.

Sophia Singletary pitched a 3-hit shutout and batted 3-3 in a 22-0 victory over Union. Logan Autry batted 3-3, and Ludlum and Laikyn Pait belted 2 hits each in an 8-6 win over Pender.

Miller Heustess struck out 10 batters in East Bladen’s 12-11 softball win over St. Pauls.  Faith Johnson doubled and scored 3 runs. Heustess pitched a 3-hitter in a 19-3 win over Clinton.  Heustess, Johnson, Lauren Merritt and Shardajah Brown smacked 2 hits each. Johnson drove in 3 runs and Heustess knocked in two.

West Bladen’s boys tennis team rolled to an 8-2 record in March. Top singles player Victor Jacome won all ten of his singles matches in the month. The Knights edged rival East Bladen 5-4.

West Bladen’s girls soccer team defeated St. Pauls 3-1 for their only victory of the month.

Bladenboro native Abbey Walters pitched a complete game 4-hitter and beat No. 7 ranked Catawba 6-2 in her first start of the season for UNC-Pembroke’s Lady Brave softball team.

Walters slammed 4 doubles and a single in a double-header sweep of St Andrews and picked up her first save with 3 innings of relief. East Bladen grad Lexi Dawson batted 3-6 with 2 doubles for St. Andrews.

Walters blasted 2 homers and batted 5-7 in a sweep of Lander and pitched 6 innings to pick up a win. The junior righthander picked up another win against Catawba and batted 4-8.

The West Bladen grad was 5-8 with a triple in a split with Francis Marion and walloped 8 hits and 2 home runs in weekend double-headers  with Columbus State and Georgia Southwestern.  Walters hammered 2 doubles and a home run in a sweep of Winston-Salem State. At the end of March Walters led the Lady Braves in 7 offensive categories including batting average (.441), home runs (5), slugging pct (.677) and stolen bases (19).

Morgan Sweeney, another Bladenboro native, belted 3 hits for Newberry’s softball team in a double-header split with Erskine.  Sweeney drove in the tying run then scored the game-winner in an 8-7 nine-inning win over Southern Wesleyan.

West Bladen grad Clint Allen connected for 6 hits in a weekend series for Coker College’s baseball team against Carson Newman.

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