Top performers from Bladen County

BLADEN COUNTY – East and West Bladen got some solid performance this week from the baseball diamond to the track as the Spring season begins to heat up. East Bladen’s girl soccer team has been rolling since the season started with an undefeated record of 7-0-1. The Lady Eagles defeated the Pender Patriots 8-1 on Monday evening for a dominant performance from front to back. Junior winger Jackie Medina-Leal led the rout with three goals to complete the hattrick.

The Lady Eagles would go-on to defeat Pender a few days later with goals from midfield maestro Heidi Rebollar putting away two goals for the 2-nil victory. West Bladen’s Daniel Gustafson finished 2nd overall in the individual standings of last week’s SAC 6 Golf match. He battled the field and came up two strokes short of claiming first place in the individual table.

The Lady Eagles traveled to Burgaw for a Waccamaw Conference match on the softball field on Wednesday night. East Bladen were able to squeeze past their foes in the final inning for an 11-10 victory. Junior Martha Simmons was responsible for the decisive hit that brought sophomore Niyah Wooten across the plate to seal the victory.

East Bladen junior Martha Simmions went 5-for-5 at the plate, with two RBIs, and had three runs scored against Pender on Wednesday. East and West Bladen experienced great pitching in their victories this week. East Bladen senior right-hander Jake Futrell threw a two-hitter in the Eagles win against Pender on Monday night. Futrell sat down 12 batters as the Eagles won with ease for an 11-1 victory.

West Bladen hosted a hot Clinton Darkhorse squad and were able to come out on top 4-2. Sophomore right-hander Hunter Hester gave the Knights five good innings of work as he held the Clinton lineup to 3-hits. He struck out four of the 20 batters face and allowed the Darkhorses’ one unearned run. West Bladen’s Garrett Dunham also provided clutch moments for the Knights in the win on Tuesday. Dunham smacked 2-RBI’s and his right-arm got the Knights out of a bases loaded jam in the sixth inning against Clinton.

East Bladen thrower Jaden Pridgen won the discus at the Waccamaw Conference meet hosted by Pender. Pridgen had a winning throw of 133-08 and claimed his second straight conference victory in the event. East Bladen sprinter Dominck Collins improved his 400m time last week with a 54.94 to claim the first place spot.

Junior hurdler Laila Smith claimed first place in the girls 100mH for the second straight week and she improved her time to an 18.14. Senior hurdler Lent Laya won the girls 300m hurdles with plenty of daylight between her and the rest of the field with a time of 57.94.

West Bladen’s Gracie Faircloth was key to the Lady Knights victory at home against Clinton in a SAC 6 Softball game. Faircloth ushered in two runs to spark a seven run rout in the Lady Knights 7-5 win on Tuesday evening. East Bladen hoop stars Iveonna “NeNe” Ward and Laila Smith were also selected to the All-District team last week.

Ward averaged 20 ppg and Smith averaged 17.9 ppg in their junior seasons to help lead their team to a Regular-Season Conference title. Ward and Smith made the Lady Eagles a formidable match with both of their experience in the backcourt.