Langston quiets Havelock
Published 9:03 pm Tuesday, April 23, 2013
![Washington’s Rebekah Langston struck out nine batters and allowed zero hits during the Pack’s 10-0 five-inning win over Havelock. (WDN Photo/Brian Haines)](http://www.wdnweb.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2013/04/WHS-SB-Langston-2-SC-13-web.jpg)
Washington’s Rebekah Langston struck out nine batters and allowed zero hits during the Pack’s 10-0 five-inning win over Havelock. (WDN Photo/Brian Haines)
On a nasty night Rebekah Langston was a bit nastier. The Washington senior pitcher fought off a cold, constant misting rain and carved through the Havelock lineup throwing five innings of no-hit ball to lead the Pam Pack to a 10-0 five-inning victory over Havelock in a Coastal Conference matchup on Monday.
Playing in conditions that forced both teams to skip infield warm ups, Langston got right down to business as she struck out nine batters and allowed one walk to help improve Washington’s record to 14-3 (9-1).
“She let up very little contact, maybe a couple of hard hit foul balls,” Washington coach Doug Whitehead said. “Other than that, she kept them off balance and threw the ball in and out and up and down. She was able to handle the ball on a nasty night. It shows she’s been there before and realized what she had to do and adapted her game to the conditions.”
So did the Pam Pack lineup as it exhibited extreme patience, drawing several key walks on a night where everyone just wanted to finish the game as soon as possible.
“The girls did the right thing,” Whitehead said. “They were very patient at the plate. We had a very good offensive night last week at Jacksonville and I think they were chomping at the bit to play Friday before it was rained out … For the most part they’ve been off since last Thursday and we showed we can compete a little bit with small ball, which is what got us in the game early, and then some patience at the plate.”
The Pam Pack tallied two runs in the first as Anna Hardison and Haley Hutchins began the first inning with back-to-back bunt base hits and crossed home when Havelock mishandled a ball hit by Haley Wright.
Hardison and Hutchins would finish the game with a hit each and combined for three runs.
Washington took advantage of another Havelock error in the second when Catie Dority singled and would score on a miscue to go up 3-0.
After two scoreless innings, the Pam Pack exploded in the fifth as it rallied for seven runs. The patient Pam Pack took full advantage of walks issued by the Rams, along with a few mishandled balls, and added run-scoring hits by Justyce McKissick and Adriana Tyson to make sure the game did not see a sixth inning.
“We try to have them understand that when you’re 2-0 or 3-0 that you’re one pitch away from 3-0 or a walk,” Whitehead said. “They have to learn to be patient and not swing at bad pitches and they did that tonight.”
Havelock 000 00 — 0 0
Washington 210 07 — 10 5
WP: Rebekah Langston
Hitting: W — Anna Hardison 1-3, Haley Hutchins 1-1 (2 R), Justyce McKissick 1-3 (RBI), Adriana Tyson 1-3 (RBI), Catie Dority 1-3.