Brooks’ Best

BLADEN COUNTY - West Bladen Head coach Wade Pait and the Knights close out the regular-season on a four game win streak to finish second in the SAC 6 Conference behind Midway. They faced off against Red Springs for their final games of the regular season and they claimed game one with the help of the arm of sophomore Hunter Hester in a 6-2 victory. Hester struck out 11 and held the Red Devils to four hits from the mound, while he had an equally good day at the plate with a 2-for-4 performance and he was responsible for batting in two runs.

The Knights relied on solid pitching from junior right-hander Garrett Dunham to overcome the Red Devils in their 1-0 victory on Friday evening. Dunham struck out 18 batters and gave the Red Devil lineup headaches by only allowing four hits as they struggled to make contact. West Bladen had the best opportunities to score but failed to capitalize on their chances as the Red Devils got excellent pitching from Jayden Hammonds.

They finally got their answer at the bottom of the seventh when Jordan Hester smacked a walk-off single to seal the win. The Lady Knights also finished their regular-season strong on the softball diamond with huge wins over Red Springs. West Bladen junior Marlene Crabtree was responsible for batting in five runs en route to a 18-3 victory away from home last Tuesday. Crabtree also started in the center-circle for the Lady Knights to only allow 2-hits, two strikeout, and one earned in three innings of work.

The two teams would meet again a few days later and the Lady Knights dominated in similar fashion for a 10-0 victory. Gracie Faircloth racked up six strikeouts and allowed four hits to earn the shutout win. The Lady Knights will enter the postseason with momentum after getting five straight wins to close out the regular-season.

The East Bladen Lady Eagles soccer team hosted West Bladen on Monday for a 2-nil victory and they drew 1-1 with East Duplin on Wednesday. Sophomore forward Iveonna “NeNe” Ward scored in Monday’s win and Wednesday she provided an assist to Jackie Medina-Leal in the Lady Eagles draw. Conference Championship Week for both county schools saw some athletes placing for medals.

East Bladen junior sprinter Chace Butler claimed the silver in the boys 200m with a time of 23.32 in the Waccamaw Conference Championship. West Bladen junior long-distance runner Demon’tre Love took third place in the boys 800m at the SAC 6 Championship. Love won the 1600m with a time of 4:57.81 for a comfortable last lap to claim the gold. East Bladen won the 4x100m relay for boys side and the East Bladen girls 4x100m took the bronze. East Bladen’s girls 4x200m team also took silver in the event. East Bladen junior discus thrower La’Tosha Melvin took silver in the girls discus with a throw of 73-08.

West Bladen senior Trinity Van Eyken won the 300mH in the girls SAC 6 Championship and East Bladen junior 300mH Laila Smith won gold in the Waccamaw Conference Championship. Smith also claimed the 100mH Waccamaw Conference title a few events prior to the 300mH. West Bladen senior Malijah McKoy claimed the silver medal in the boys 100m and he got another silver medal in the 200m with a time of 23.21.

West Bladen senior hurdler Devyn McDonald took gold in the 110mH and hurdler Shaun Barkley just missed out on the podium in fourth. West Bladen senior thrower Iyan Phillips finished in second for the boys discus. The Lady Knights won the girls 4x100m Relay with a time of 53.16 and they took bronze in the 4x200m and 4x400m. West Bladen senior sprinter Kiera Lewis finished with the silver medal in the girls 200m with a time of 27.39.