West Bladen baseball wins 9-8 in a 10-inning thriller against Hoggard

JT Hepler winding up for a pitch.

Bladenboro, NC - Opening night at West Bladen felt like a playoff game in late February. The Knights clawed their way back from an early five-run hole and walked off Hoggard in the bottom of the 10th for a thrilling 9-8 victory.

“Confidence. Focus. Improvement.” said coach Clint Allen.

That’s all he had to say after the wild win. Those three words set the tone for a team that refused to fold, even when the scoreboard wasn’t pretty early on.

West Bladen found themselves in trouble right out of the gate, as Hoggard jumped on the Knights’ pitching for five runs in the top of the first.

A combination of timely hits, a passed ball, and a wild pitch had West Bladen staring at a 5-0 deficit before they even came to the plate.

But the Knights didn’t blink.

West Bladen scratched across a run in the bottom of the first, thanks to an Allister Russ sacrifice fly that brought home JT Hepler.

From there, the Knights kept battling, cutting into the lead inning by inning.

A scrappy third inning saw West Bladen capitalize on a Hoggard error, a clutch RBI single from Ashton Davis, and some heads-up base running to trim the lead to 5-3.

By the fifth, the Knights tied the game at 6-6 after a flurry of hits, walks, and a gritty at-bat from Davis, who came through again with an RBI single.

After Hoggard inched back ahead 7-6 in the ninth, West Bladen found themselves down to their final three outs.

That’s when Jonah Bryan made his mark after being put on first as a pinch runner.

After swiping second base and advancing to third on a wild pitch, Bryan raced home on a bang-bang play at the plate to tie the game 7-7.

Hoggard scratched across an unearned run in the top of the 10th, setting up more heroics for the Knights.

JT Healer came through with a game-tying single to bring home Daniel Bryan, then Josh Dawson scored the game-winner on a wild pitch — sending the West Bladen dugout into an absolute frenzy and giving the Knights a thrilling 9-8 win.

Brady Durden led the Knights’ offense with three hits on the night, while JT Hepler and Garrett Dunham were workhorses on the mound. The duo combined for eight innings, allowing just two hits while racking up 12 strikeouts.

West Bladen starts the season 1-0, and if opening night was any indication, fans should buckle up for a wild ride this spring.

Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E

Hoggard - 5 0  0 0  1 0 0 0 1 1 8 6 1

West Bladen - 1 0  2 0  3 0 0 0 1 2 9 12 2