West Bladen and Clinton are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2016, but likely not for long. The West Bladen Knights will look to defend their home field on Tuesday against the Clinton Dark Horses at 6:00 p.m. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
West Bladen has not done well against Lumberton recently (they were 0-3 in their previous three matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Thursday. West Bladen walked away with a 5-2 win over Lumberton.
West Bladen let Ashton Davis and Hunter Hester loose on the outfield. Davis went 1-for-4 with a triple, a run, and an RBI, while Hester scored two runs while going 1-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Allister Russ, who went 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI.
Meanwhile, Clinton had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 5.3 runs), and they went ahead and made it four on Thursday. They came out on top against the Bulldogs by a score of 6-3.
Jaxson Smith was excellent, scoring a run and stealing two bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
West Bladen's victory bumped their record up to 3-5. As for Clinton, they pushed their record up to 8-1 with that win, which was their fifth straight at home.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. West Bladen has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Clinton struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.9 per game. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
West Bladen suffered a grim 7-0 defeat to Clinton in their previous meeting back in March of 2023. Can West Bladen avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
