Washington stormed out of spring break and into 2-A Eastern Plains Conference action with wins over Southwest Edgecombe and Farmville Central by a combined 27-0 score. The Lady Pack thoroughly handled the Lady Jaguars Friday evening, winning 15-0 in four innings to improve to 2-0 in the league.

Friday was an emotional day for the visiting Farmville Central players, students and fans. Freshman student Charles “Jackson” Corbett passed away during his JROTC class that morning, but the Jaguars and Lady Jaguars admirably elected to make the trip to Washington anyways.

Pitcher Hailey Harris and the Lady Pack defense shined early and often. She fanned a pair of batters in each of the four innings, finishing with eight strikeouts total.

“She had 10 strikeouts I think against Southwest Edgecombe on Tuesday. She had a great night other than hitting one girl twice,” coach Doug Whitehead said of Harris, applauding her for minimizing walks.

“Early on, she was bad with walking the leadoff batter of the ball game. She ended up scoring every time. We concentrated on her being ready early in the ball game because shutting down people early seems to help us out.”

Washington’s work on defense was capped off with Harris striking out a Farmville Central batter and then catcher Jordan Pierce throwing out Monique Erazo as she attempted to steal second base. Erazo actually successfully stole, but Meghan Moore tagged her as she stepped off the base.

The girls scored thrice in the bottom of the first. Leadoff batter Style McKissick scored after a double to centerfield by Harris and a throwing error getting the ball in. Sarah Alligood, running for Harris, came across on Chrissy McKissick’s single to right field and McKissick made it 3-0 on a passed ball.

After scoring in the first, Style McKissick batted in a run in the second when Sarah Lynch scored on her line to centerfield.

Farmville Central went three up, three down in the third. The defensive momentum carried over to Washington’s bats as the girls opened the bottom of the frame with five consecutive hits.

Moore and Pierce had back-to-back RBI doubles to the fence that plated two of Washington’s eight runs in the inning. Jada Lodge and Lynch kept the no-out offensive explosion alive with consecutive base hits to score another pair of runs.

It kept going even after the Lady Jaguars retired two batters in a row. McKissick scored Lynch on a line drive into shallow centerfield before Harris and Chrissy McKissick had back-to-back doubles. Moore brought McKissick home on a base hit through the left side.

After a quick top of the fourth, Washington pushed across the three runs it needed for the 15-run mercy rule. With the bases loaded, McKissick hammered the ball to right center to plate Style McKissick and Haley Witham, ending the game.

Washington’s showings against Southwest Edgecombe and Farmville Central were strong, but the girls have a tough week ahead of them. They host top-notch conference opponents in Beddingfield and North Johnston with a game at South Central sandwiched between them.