Northside’s Kelsey Lang named 2015 Washington Daily News Softball Player of the Year

Twenty-four-straight wins. Class 1-A’s second-best offense. A regional championship appearance. It’s an impressive resume for the 2015 Northside softball team, but for senior Kelsey Lang, it was almost a season spent entirely in the dugout.

Lang, a pitcher by trade, suffered a bone chip in her throwing hand in the opener on March 10 against Ayden-Grifton, an injury known to end seasons and adversely affect velocity and command. It didn’t take long for the season-ending rumors to surface. However, Lang rehabbed in hopes of returning to the diamond and just two weeks later, sporting a protective cast on her hand and wrist, she was back in the lineup as a designated player.

“She came back and just proved to everyone how tough an athlete she is,” said head coach Riley Youmans. “She just has the right attitude and never gets down on herself and other teammates … What she brought to that team is going to be irreplaceable.”

Two months later, Lang was standing on third base in a scoreless ballgame in the final inning of the eastern regional championship against North Duplin after smashing a clutch double to left-center.

The Panthers would come up short and fail to plate Lang, but the hit in game’s final frame against one North Carolina’s top pitchers, Rylee Pate, was a fitting ending to the high school career of this season’s top softball player.

“When she led off with that double, it just opened so many opportunities and I felt great about it,” said Youmans. “I felt like we were in a position to be able to win the game. It just didn’t happen.”

For her production at the plate and in the pitcher’s circle, as well as being a leader on and off the field, Lang has been named the 2015 Washington Daily News County Softball Player of the Year.

Lang was a pillar of consistency for the Panthers in 22 games, finishing with a .492 average, 20 RBIs, 14 walks and 10 runs in 78 plate appearances. Spending most of the year batting in front of her sister Rachel in the middle of the lineup, Lang was moved to the third slot in the order after notching eight hits through the last four regular season games.

“What I like about Kelsey is that she’s confident, but not cocky or arrogant,” Youmans said. “That’s the difference between some great athletes and athletes like Kelsey. She doesn’t have that air about her that a lot of athletes do.”

Utilized in a dual-pitching rotation with sister, Lang returned from her injury even stronger, baffling hitters with a series of off-speed pitches and remaining poised in close ballgames. She finished her senior year with 13 wins, a 0.83 ERA and 91 strikeouts in 76.1 innings.

 

Washington’s Hutchins named 2015 Washington Daily News Softball Pitcher of the Year

Over the last four years, Haley Hutchins is a name that’s become synonymous with Washington softball, an athlete that will go down as one of the best to ever toe the rubber for the school.

Competing in the top 2-A softball conference in the state, one with five playoff-eligible teams that finished winning records, the Pam Pack relied on Hutchins for 127 of the team’s 129 innings this season — the truest definition of a workhorse.

“Haley was basically our mainstay all year long, we rode her and she did a fabulous job all year long,” said head coach Doug Whitehead. “I haven’t had many players work as hard as she did throughout her high school career or prior to, that’s for sure.”

With a deep arsenal of pitches and top-notch velocity, Hutchins gave Washington a chance to win every time she stepped into the pitcher’s circle, which was, well, just about every inning. Earning each decision of the team’s 21 decisions (16-5 record), Hutchins finished the season with a 1.38 ERA and a career-high 175 strikeouts (top five in 2-A), while walking 46 batters.

“I had one other that did the same thing in the past, but Haley probably had more pitches and could do more with the ball than anyone I’ve ever had — she moved it up, down, drop, rise, curve, slider, anything and everything,” Whitehead said. “She had great control of her pitches this year … She’s really carried us for years.”

Hutchins, who will suit up for Pitt Community College in 2016, was also a threat at the plate with a .423 average, 18 RBIs and 27 runs.