By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
WILLIAMSTON — The Tigers’ motto this season was simple but effective. It was short and to the point, and managed to capture the 2010 Williamston softball team perfectly.
“Let’s go to work,” was one of the more popular phrases that could be heard out of the mouth of coach Damon Hayes during any Tigers’ practice session this season.
The hard work paid off as Williamston made its first-ever trip to Walnut Creek, the home of the NCHSAA state playoff tournament, in what might be the best run a Tigers’ softball team has ever had; or ever will.
With consolidation in place, Williamston has merged with Jamesville High School to form the Riverside Knights. The move marks the end of both the Tigers and Bullets existence, making this year the last for either one.
The postseason dash to Raleigh not only allowed the Tigers to finish the season ranked fourth in the state amongst 1-A schools, but also helped Hayes win the Washington Daily News Coach of the Year.
At the start of the season Williamston certainly didn’t look like a team capable of reaching Raleigh.
With the girls’ basketball team wrapping up its own run at a state title, the softball team was short-handed on players and wins.
The Tigers lost their first four games of the season, but once they got notable players such as senior second baseman Cassie Harrell and freshman center fielder Dasia Moore in the lineup, it was time to go to work.
Williamston finally broke the ice on the season in its fifth game, and after starting out the year 1-4, lost only three more regular season games to place second in the Four Rivers Conference. The Tigers finished the year with an 18-9 record.
Looking back, Hayes said that the cool start paved the way for the Tigers’ hot finish.
“Really it was a blessing,” Hayes said. “Because we were able to put a lot of freshmen and sophomores on the field. They were able to go out there and play varsity softball and get a feel for what that was like. We were able to get their confidence up, so at any time in the season when we needed them they were ready.”
The momentum built slowly, but inning by inning the group began to jell. Finally around Easter, the Williamston was starting to click on all cylinders.
Hayes cited the Northside Easter Tournament, and the ensuing week after when his team scheduled an exhibition game against Edenton, as the time he saw his team begin to peak.
“It just seemed that finally at the right moment we were all a team,” Hayes said. “You could really tell towards the playoffs. We started getting the big hits when we needed them, we were able to sacrifice and move runners over, our bats finally got going and we were playing great defense.”
 Williamston hit its apex at the right time. The Tigers dusted Dixon in the first round, then were able to get past No. 1 seed Jamesville, whom Hayes had an 0-5 lifetime record against in the playoffs, before topping a tough Pamlico squad to win the District Round.
Despite all their playoff glory, the Tigers toughest task was yet to come. In order to advance to Raleigh, Williamston had to get by reigning three-time conference champs Southside, who had beaten the Tigers twice already during the regular season.
However, as Jamesville found out, the Seahawks came to find that this Tigers team was a special group that would not be held back by history.
In Hayes’ eight-year tenure as Williamston coach his teams have won five conference titles, but none of his teams have gone as far as this year’s Tigers team; one that entered the playoff race as a No. 2 seed.
Hayes said this year’s team was able to advance because it had the right makeup.
“We were able to win for a couple of reasons, but No. 1 is leadership,” Hayes said. “We had the right players. Sometimes it’s different from when a coach tells a player something to when someone on the team says it. Leadership is big in sports, and that helped us a lot.”
While leaders on the team such as seniors Cassie Harrell, Heather Jackson and Harris Shepherd were quick to police themselves, that didn’t mean Hayes wouldn’t hesitate to get his point across himself.
“He pushes us to the limit, but knows when to stop,” Harrell said. “He knows each player personally, and he knows how hard to push them. … He’s very vocal. He’s going to let you know how he feels. He might get all up in your bubble, but he is doing that because he wants you to be the best that you can be.
“His favorite phrase was ‘let’s go to work,’ and that’s what we did everyday, we wanted to go to work and win.”