Washington softball is coming off a third-place finish in the 2-A Eastern Plains conference and a trip to the second round of the state playoffs. However, the team lost six seniors: Haley Wright, Britany Norman, Jessica Evans, Catie Dority, Haley Hutchins and Allison Brantley.

The Lady Pack is forced to retool this season. The girls had five starter spots open entering the preseason. That process got underway Friday evening when they hosted Northside in the Bobby Andrews Scholarship Fund scrimmage.

The weekend provided more chances to get things sorted out ahead of Wednesday’s season opener against East Carteret. Here’s what coach Doug Whitehead had to say about the upcoming season.

 

On where the Lady Pack left off last season:

“We had a fairly decent season last year. We were third in the conference, basically a game out of first and a half a game out of second. … We lost six seniors off of last year’s team, five of which were starters. Four of them were four-year starters.

“We’ve got a bunch of experienced ball players. We’ve only got three seniors on the team right now. We’ve got some able ball players that are very skilled. They’ve got lots of softball skills. They’ve played a lot of ball and we keep coming together as a team.”

 

On the Bobby Andrews Scholarship Fund:

“The money raised is available for girls that graduate from Washington and Northside. Bobby is just a great ambassador for softball. He played fast-pitch softball many years ago. Bobby’s just one of the biggest proponents of softball and kids. He’s just a great guy.”

 

On the team’s versatility:

“I’ve got a lot of girls that can play a lot of positions. We’re just trying to find out where everybody is, who are the hitters. … I think we’ve got so many that can play that I feel confident having multiple people at multiple positions. So, we’ve got a bunch that have played a lot of positions. I’ve got several girls that can play probably any spot.”

 

On facing quality pitching early in the preseason:

“We faced an outstanding pitcher. … For us not to have faced live pitching, (Rachel Lang) was excellent for us to come against. They had not seen it. The weather has been cruddy and we haven’t been able to do much hitting-wise. … That’s what we do scrimmages for.”

 

On what he wants to see before the regular season starts:

“The girls have to be more aggressive at the plate. We’ve got a very tough conference and they’re going to be facing some very good pitchers. They’ve got to be aggressive. I’m very confident in the defense we have.

“Pitching, I’m very confident in that. Hayley Harris has come back and she’s going to be our workhorse this year. We’re going to rely on her. It was her first outing of the season. She was out last year with some injuries, so this is like her coming back year for us. Pitching is going to be good, we’ve just got to develop hitting.”