Her name is Charity, but for four years opposing hitters never got a thing for free.
By the end of Charity Watson’s high school career her name was littered all over the NCHSAA record books and after Friday night it will be permanently etched in Washington lore as she will enter the Walk of Fame with running back Travis Daniels, three-sport star Adrian Bowen and the 1947 football team during a ceremony that will take place at halftime of the Pam Pack’s football game against Beddingfield.
Watson, a four-time Washington Daily News Pitcher of the year, graduated in 2009 racking up 1,245 career strikeouts (7th in the state history), five perfect games (6th), 17 no-hitters  (6th), 53 shutouts (5th) and a career ERA of .33 (5th), but said getting inducted into the Walk of Fame trumps everything.
“I was shocked and honored when I got my letter in the mail from Washington High School,” Watson said. “In all my years of playing softball and receiving awards, I think this is one of the best I have ever gotten. Thank you Washington High School.”
With a stunning fastball/rise ball combination, Watson electrified nightly on the mound like Nolan Ryan in his heyday.
“I hear girls today talking about throwing 60-something, but I never had a girl throw as hard as Charity,” said Washington softball coach Doug Whitehead. “What was amazing about her is I never caught someone whose pitches where so heavy. She threw so hard that girls literally had a hard time bunting because she took the bat out of their hands. She’s the hardest thrower I’ve ever been associated with.”
When Watson took the hill it was more than a game, it was an event. And everybody in attendance knew that tonight could be the night that something great happened.
They were rarely disappointed.
In 2006 Watson struck over 30 batters in a single game. Twice. The first time came on April 13, when she fanned 33 against D.H. Conley in a 15-inning affair that was won by WHS, 2-1. The next time came a month later when she blew away 39 batters in a 17-inning marathon match against New Bern to lead the Pack to a 1-0 victory.
The 39-K outing stands at No. 2 in the state for most strikeouts in an extra-inning game, right behind Kayla Richardson, who needed 26 innings to strike out 40.