Softball is right around the corner. Washington is feeling great after making it all the way to the 2-A eastern regional championship series as the No. 12 seed a year ago.

All but three girls from that squad return for this season. All the experience — combined with the continuing growth of younger impact players in Mary B. Dixon and Summer Campbell, and the addition of freshman pitcher Abbigail Tucker — makes for an exciting feeling in the dugout.

Washington travels to Winterville for a set of scrimmages today. The Lady Pack then opens the season Tuesday at home against Havelock. Here’s what coach Doug Whitehead said about the state of the team.

 

How the Lady Pack is on everyone’s radar now:

“I keep telling them this can be an extremely special year. We’re not going to sneak up on anybody. I think we’ve made a little bit of a name for ourselves. We’ve done well for a long time, but I think everybody is going to be prepared for us this year.

“We’ve got to be ready. We’ve got a target on our back. I’ve set us up with a very competitive non-conference schedule.”

 

How the team’s pitching looks:

“We’ll get a better idea this weekend when we get three scrimmages. I’d love for each to pitch a full game, but I’m not so sure. We’re going to throw two or three. I’ve got Summer Campbell, who sort of came up from JV last year to help us out some.

“I’m hoping to get all three (Campbell, senior Hailey Harris and freshman Abbigail Tucker) in some this weekend, but we don’t know. Hailey has been used to carrying the load for us. I’m trying to get her to embrace that help is good. It’ll be tough for her, I’m sure, to not do it all. That’s the type of ball player she is.”

 

What the Lady Pack looks like offensively:

“We do have some top hitters coming back. Meghan Moore, Jada Lodge, Jordan Pierce were probably in our top five or six hitters last year. We’ve got several others. Sarah Lynch had a great year hitting the ball. We’ve got girls that are very capable that have played a lot of softball in their lives.

“… Hailey Harris was one of our top hitters last year, too, even though she carried the load pitching. We had Mary B. Dixon. I pulled her up for the playoffs last year. She had some good sticks for us, too. She was one of the big hitters on JV last year. Summer, also, has got a good body for softball. She’s tall and has great strength.”

 

What the mindset is heading into the season opener on Tuesday:

“We’re anxious. This group is a little bit timid. I’m trying to get somebody to jump out and be a leader. They’ve played together for so long that I don’t know if there’s a leader amongst them yet. We’re going to find one soon.”

 

What he expects from the rest of the 2-A Eastern Plains Conference:

“Our conference has picked up this year. North Johnston is always tough. Beddingfield is pretty tough. Southwest Edgecombe, we’ve struggled with them and they’ve got the same pitcher back. Farmville Central has got two pitchers that have moved up from their junior high. He’s got better pitching than he’s accustomed to. It’ll be a pretty tough conference to go through.”

 

How the weather has helped in the preseason:

“For the first time in three years, we’ve had as pretty weather as we’ve ever had. In the last few years, my tryouts have consisted of running up and down the halls and throwing softballs in the parking lot when the rain broke for a few seconds. We’ve had really good practices. We’ve had one or two cold days, but other than that, if the weather is like this for the season, we’ll be in heaven.”