Softball Game Preview: West Bladen Knights vs. East Bladen Eagles

West Bladen is 8-2 against East Bladen since March of 2018 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Monday. West Bladen will host East Bladen at 6:00 p.m. East Bladen took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on West Bladen, who comes in off a win.

West Bladen will bounce into Monday's game after beating South Columbus, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. West Bladen had just enough and edged out South Columbus 4-2. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Knights have posted since April 26, 2024.

Allison Hickman

Batters Struck Out

03/19/25 vs South Columbus	8
03/12/25 @ South Columbus	6
02/27/25 vs North Brunswick	7

Allison Hickman spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on five hits and racked up eight Ks. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in three consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Addison Wilcox was incredible, going a perfect 2-for-2 with two stolen bases, one triple, and one run. Jahyrah Priest was another key player, scoring a run while going 1-for-2.

Meanwhile, East Bladen came up short against East Columbus on Friday and fell 9-5. The defeat continues a trend for the Eagles in their meetings with the Gators: they've now lost four in a row.

East Bladen saw seven different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jenna Brice, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI.

The win made it two in a row for West Bladen and bumps their season record up to 2-4. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to strikeouts: they averaged an imposing seven strikeouts in those games compared to only three in the others. As for East Bladen, they now have a losing record of 1-2.

West Bladen came out on top in a nail-biter against East Bladen in their previous matchup back in March of 2023, sneaking past 2-1. Will West Bladen repeat their success, or does East Bladen has a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.