WINTERVILLE — A little help? That’s what the Pam Pack softball team was left asking for after its chance to control its own fate in the Coastal Conference race slipped out of its hands with a 5-3 loss to South Central on Tuesday.
Washington entered the contest locked in a three-way tie for first place in the conference standings with South Central and D.H. Conley who each had one conference loss, but after getting edged out by the Falcons the Pam Pack now needs outside forces to intervene.
In order for Washington to climb back up to the top of the conference the Pack must first top West Carteret in tonight’s Senior Night regular season finale and then root for rival D.H. Conley to upend the Falcons on Friday.
“We were in a spot where we could control our own destiny but now we’re in a spot where we have to rely on help,” Washington coach Doug Whitehead said. “But, first we have to go out and win against West Carteret. Then Conley and South Central play Friday night and there’s still a chance we can get a co-conference championship out of this thing and possibly a first-place seeding with a little bit of luck.”
For the second game in a row the Pam Pack slugged two over-the-fence home runs as Haley Hutchins and Chrissy McKissick each had solo blasts, but Washington struggled otherwise to manufacture runs against Falcons’ ace Kayla Harris.
Harris worked the strike zone well and finished the game scattering seven hits over seven innings and allowed three runs to get the win.
“Last time we faced her we got three hits and (on Tuesday) we got seven, so we basically doubled our output against her,” Whitehead said. “But, she’s a tough pitcher and keeps the ball outside.”
Washington ace Rebekah Langston also threw a complete game and yielded seven hits, five runs and struck out four in the loss.
Once again, the Washington outfield proved to be a sore spot as a few hard hit balls where not corralled cleanly leading to extra bases, which combined with an untimely past ball and a wild pitch, proved to be too much to overcome.
After taking a 1-0 lead in the first, the Falcons expanded their lead to 3-0 in the third when Ashton Barbee drove in Madison Rowell on an RBI double and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
Rowell was a force at the plate as the Falcons’ No. 2 hitter went 3-3, scored three runs and added an RBI double.
Washington countered in the fourth when Hutchins smoked an 0-1 pitch over the left field fence to cut the lead to 3-1.
However, South Central rallied for two more runs in the fifth when Rowell hit an RBI double and then scored on a past ball.
After a scoreless sixth, Whitehead decided to pinch-hit the freshman McKissick and she delivered as she fought off a two-strike count and smashed her first career varsity home run to left.
However, the momentum would not be sustained as Washington recorded three straight outs to end the game.

Washington    000    110    1    —    3    7    2
South Central    102    020    X    —    5    7    0
WP: Kayla Harris; LP: Rebekah Langston
Hitting: W — Anna Hardision 1-4, Haley Hutchins 2-2 (HR, RBI, 2R), Justyce McKissick 2-3, Haley Wright 1-3 (RBI), Chrissy McKissick 1-1 (HR, RBI); S — Brittany Hagerty 1-3, Madison Rowell 3-3 (3R, RBI, 2B), Ashton Barbee 2-3 (2B, RBI), Lindsay Sutton 1-2.