Ledford baseball downs East Davidson

Kelvyn Paulino Jr. went 3 for 4 with a double for Ledford (11-1), which completed the season sweep of East following its 14-3 win three weeks ago at Ledford. Ayden Wall added two doubles and three RBIs while Jadden Rodriguez had two hits and two RBIs.

Angel Pichardo, who also had a sacrifice fly, and Gabe Barker each chipped in a double and two RBIs as the Panthers scored four runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings and tacked in two in the seventh. They totaled 10 hits for the game.

Both starting pitchers were strong in the early innings — through three innings, Ledford’s England was perfect, while East’s Ethan Loman faced just one more than the minimum. But the Panthers put two on with no outs to start the fourth.

Rodriguez singled in a run and Pichardo drove in another on a sacrifice fly, then Wall doubled to left-center to score two more runs. The next inning, Rodriguez began a string of four straight run-scoring hits — including doubles by England, Pichardo and Wall.

That was more than enough for Ledford, which added two more in the seventh on a two-run double by Barker.

England got the pitching win, striking out seven while giving up no hits and no walks in four innings. He struggled a little in the fourth, hitting back-to-back batters, but escaped unscathed. Villaman closed out the win, striking out six in three innings.

Loman took the loss, striking out six in 4 2/3 innings. Brenner Tarolli and Trey Kennedy were solid in relief for East (6-3), which was limited at the plate — tallying hits from Logan Irwin and Tarolli at the plate.

The Golden Eagles, ranked No. 12 in the 2A West, will return to Central Carolina 1A/2A Conference play Friday at home against North Rowan, while Ledford, ranked No. 3 among 3A West teams and No. 22 in the state overall, will travel to Mid-Piedmont 3A Conference foe Montgomery Central on Friday.

mlindsay@hpenews.com | @HPEmichael