A strong outing by J.H. Rose pitcher Kellie Beres kept the Washington bats silent on Friday as the Pam Pack fell 5-0 to the Rampants.

Beres threw all seven innings for Rose and struck out seven batters, walked four and allowed only three hits to up the Rampants record to 3-1 and keep the Pam Pack (0-4) still searching for its first win of the year.

“She is an exceptional pitcher and I’m glad she is graduating,” Washington coach Doug Whitehead said of Beres. “We put the bat on the ball and made some contact. We had some scoring opportunities; runners on first and second in at least three innings, but we did that each time with two outs.”

In the bottom of the fourth, Washington threatened as Justyce McKissick knocked a two-out single, which was followed up by another single from Morgan Bryant, however, the Pack recorded the third out in the next at-bat.

In the bottom of the fifth with one out, Sydney Gurkin drew a walk and Kat Staton struck out before Katelyn Rowe walked on to first. Once again the Pack had two runners on with two outs but failed to capitalize as Shakira Lomax popped out to the catcher.

McKissick led the Pam Pack at the plate by going 2-for-3, while Bryant got the only other hit for Washington.

Behind the plate, Lomax had a tremendous impact on the game as she threw out two would-be base runners in the third inning and made a great play backing up first base in the fifth that erased a Pam Pack error.

“Our catcher did an exceptional job throwing out runners who were trying to steal and backing up runners,” Whitehead said. “She had three put-outs on two steals and a back-up play at first base.”

Washington pitcher Brandi Hardison was able to keep Rose off the board until the fourth inning when it rallied for two runs. Marie Payne led off the inning with a double and would later score on a Lindsey Corbett sac fly to right field. The Rampants got their second run when Casey Hargett, who reached base on an error, crossed home plate on a Ginny Howard ground out to second.

Hargett drove in another run in the sixth when she smashed a double to score Beres who was stationed on first but running on the pitch.

The Rampants added two insurance runs in the seventh to seal the deal and win their third game of the season.

The victory was packed with mixed emotions for J.H. Rose’s first-year assistant coach Cameron Whitehead. Whitehead starred on the Pam Pack softball team from 2002-06 and is the daughter of Washington softball coach Doug Whitehead, who she has beaten twice already this season.

“It’s kind of bitter sweet, especially being here at Washington now because I look at the field and think of how many games I played on it in the past and how much I want to be out there still,” Cameron said. “It is hard playing against my dad. This program, he is trying to run it strong but it’s just not like it was when I was in high school. I think we lost two or three games my senior season and that’s it. He’s trying so hard to get it back there, he just needs to keep working; it’s hard.”

Doug said there was no trash talking from either side leading up to the game and that he sympathized with Cameron’s torn heart.

“She is a Pam Pack graduate and I think there is some mixed emotions for her,” Doug said. “Her paycheck is coming from there but I think her heart may still be in (Washington).

Playing against Rose will not be the only time Doug Whitehead has to coach against one of his daughters. Whitehead’s eldest daughter, Meredith, is an assistant coach on the D.H. Conley varsity softball team and the head coach of the J.V. team.

The Pam Pack will be back in action on Thursday when it hosts Northern Nash.

J.H. Rose 000 201 2 č 5

Washington 000 000 0 č 0

WP: Kellie Beres; LP: Brandi Hardison