A few minor changes to the lineup provided a few major sparks for Washington as it rolled past Northside 15-5 in six innings on Tuesday.

One game after losing 11-2 to Farmville Central, Washington’s first-year coach Matt Burnett shuffled his lineup and put the Pam Pack’s traditional leadoff hitter Jake Duke in the No. 3 spot for the first time in his career and moved Austin Mitchell to the top of the order with versatile slugger Will Swain batting in the No. 2 hole.

The move produced results as Washington belted nine hits and tallied 15 runs. Swain went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three runs scored while Mitchell went 1-for-3 with two runs scored.

Duke walked in his first three at-bats before reaching on Northside error his fourth time up and scored each time he reached base.

Also benefiting from the move was No. 5 hitter David McIver who went 3-for-4 with a team-high four RBIs. Will Phelps, who hits right behind McIver added a two-run single and a run-scoring sacrifice fly.

“It was awesome. We kind of reshuffled things at the top of the order to give some guys some different looks. We felt that we were able to capitalize all the way throughout the order and get some runs in some different situations. The biggest difference for us tonight offensively compared to the other night is that we cashed in on some runs. The other night we had some situations where we didn’t drive in the runs with guys on second or third base. In those situations tonight we were able to get the fly ball and we ran the bases well.”

The win ups Washington’s record to 2-1 on the year, with both wins coming over Northside (0-3, 1-A, Four Rivers Conference).

“We feel good about (the win),” Burnett said. “What we do is try to breakdown our season into segments of three and we are really looking to win two out of each three games … We have taken it and said if we can win two out of each three then that is 16 to 17 wins right there and that puts us where we want to be.”

Senior transfer Jake Skirko was the game’s winning pitcher. Skirko looked sharp at times during his 4 2-3 innings of work as he allowed only two hits and struck out four batters. Skirko also found himself running deep into counts which led to him issuing six walks.

“Skirko is a fantastic kid and a competitor, but I think he is still learning how to pitch,” Burnett said. “He has fantastic stuff. The difference for him is when he goes back to trusting his stuff. Tonight, when he got into trouble it was because he was trying to be too fine. … At one point we called time and I went out to the mound and said ‘Skirko your best stuff is better than most hitters. Let’s trust it and go after it’ and he was able to trust it and buckle down.”

Northside used three pitchers in the loss as each hurler proved to be inconsistent. Tyler Waters got the start for the Panthers and let up three first-inning runs before throwing a sharp 1-2-3 second inning.

Waters struggled again in the third as he let up a single and issued two walks before getting pulled for reliever Dillon Cutler. The Panthers ended the inning allowing three runs and trailing 6-3 heading into the fourth.

The Pack pushed the game out of reach with a five-run fourth inning which was highlighted by a Swain  booming RBI double and a well-hit two-run single by Phelps.

Brandon Marsh came on to pitch the final 3 1-3 of the game and blanked Washington in the fifth before he allowed the Pack to score four runs in the sixth.

“We struggled on the mound and we struggled at the plate and those two things don’t go hand-in-hand as far as staying in ball games,” Northside coach Keith Boyd said. “It was just an up and down night. The guys struggled but we also had one or two good innings. We are inconsistent, but for us to be decent in our league we are going to have to clear up some of those inconsistencies up.”

Northside was led at the plate by Brandon Ussery who went 1-for-3 with a two-run single, while Josh Miller, Gray Burbage and Waters each added a hit.

The Panthers will be back in action today when they play at Pamlico, while the Pam Pack will be back on the diamond at home Friday against J.H. Rose.

Northside 012 030 č 5 4 2

Washington 303 504 č 9 2

WP: Jake Skirko; LP: Tyler Waters

Hitting: NS č Josh Miller 1-3, Tyler Waters 1-3 (R), Brandon Ussery 1-3 (2 RBI), Gray Burbage 1-3; W č Austin Mitchell 1-3 (2 R), Will Swain (3-4 (3 R, 2 2B), David McIver 3-4 (4 RBI), Will Phelps 1-3 (3 RBI), Will Masten 1-1.