Baseball Game Preview: Lumberton Pirates vs. West Bladen Knights

The Lumberton Pirates are taking a road trip to take on the West Bladen Knights at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Lumberton will be looking to extend their current six-game winning streak.

Lumberton had to skate by with only a two-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the 25-run drubbing they dealt Douglas Byrd on Tuesday. Lumberton's pitchers stepped up to hand Douglas Byrd a 25-0 shutout. That 25 run margin sets a new team best for the Pirates this season.

Caiden Hall

Runs Batted In (Career)

03/18/25 @ Douglas Byrd	2
03/12/25 vs Hoke County	1
03/11/25 @ South View	1
03/07/25 @ Jack Britt	1
02/25/25 @ Pine Forest	1

Caiden Hall was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. The dominant performance gave him a new career-low in hits. He was even better at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in RBI (two).

In other batting news, Rodney Jacobs and Austin Thorndyke did most of the damage at the plate: Jacobs scored a run while going 1-for-1, while Thorndyke scored three runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Those three runs gave Thorndyke a new career-high. Jayden Graham was another key player, scoring two runs while going 1-for-1.

Lumberton always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .725. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.

Meanwhile, West Bladen was not the first on the board last Friday, but they got there more often. They narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past Swansboro 4-2.

The team relied heavily on Ashton Davis, who went 3-for-4 with one double and one RBI. Another player making a difference was Cade Allen, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.

Lumberton pushed their record up to 6-2 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for West Bladen, their record is now 5-1.

Lumberton suffered a grim 9-2 defeat to West Bladen when the teams last played back in February. Can Lumberton avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.