Eagles sneak past Panthers

BEULAVILLE – The East Bladen Eagles defeated the East Duplin Panthers for a 5-2 victory last Wednesday night in a non-conference match-up. East Bladen was down 2-0 going into the fourth inning before fielding mistakes helped lead them to their first run crossing the plate. Senior Aiden Hargrove reached first base on a Panthers error to load the bases with Na’Toren Corbett on deck.

Corbett brought home Lee Barnes from third on a grounder and a fielding error from the host gave their opponents two more runners across home as the Eagles took a 3-2 lead. The Panthers couldn’t stay out of their own way on Wednesday night and they gifted the visitors with two more runs in the fifth on passed balls. The Eagles started the game with Davion Lewis and he gave the Eagles a little over four innings of work before being relieved by Britt Sasser.

Sasser held the Panthers scoreless in two innings of work and he sat down three; Jake Futrell closed out the game with three strikeouts and allowed one hit for no runs. Futrell led the Eagles in slugging for a 2-for-4 night and he scored a run. East Duplin senior Zach Brown led the Panthers with 2-RBI’s on a 1-for-4 night at the plate. Their sophomore right-hander Baines Raynor gave the host five innings before being relieved by JP Murphy to finish out the remainder of the game.

East Bladen finished the regular-season with an overall record of 12-11 and they tied South Columbus for second in the Waccamaw 1A/2A Conference with a 8-4 record. The NCHSAA 1A Playoff bracket releases on Monday and East Bladen will be in position to host their first round playoff game on Tuesday. Whiteville claimed the Waccamaw Conference title with a 12-0 record and they hold an overall 19-1 record. The Wolfpack will be the conference’s top-seed out of the 2A classification and South Columbus will also be drawn into the 2A state bracket.

East Columbus took fifth place in the conference standings with a record of 6-6 and they will have a good chance of making the 1A playoff bracket to give the Waccamaw Conference five teams in the postseason.