Washington suffered a disappointing 5-3 loss Thursday night at home against Ayden-Grifton. Junior Chris Sulc started on the hump for the Pack and pitched very well. Sulc gave up seven hits, allowed two walks, but struck out nine Charger batters.

Many of the hits allowed were slow rollers or infield hits, and they were all tough chances. The Chargers scratched out one run in the first inning on a walk and two infield singles. Washington answered back in the bottom of the first to tie the game on a walk, sacrifice bunt, and a tagged score on a fly ball to right field.

The Pack added two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning when Matt Black and Sulc, who doubled, both came home on a wild pitch.

Ayden-Grifton scored three in the top of the second on four singles. Typical of the night, the last run of the frame scored when a throw to second struck the field umpire during an attempted steal. The ricochet of the ball allowed the third Charger run in the inning. The Chargers scored their final run in the fifth on an infield single, a walk, a sacrifice bunt, and a single.

The real story for the night, however, was Washington’s inability to hit the baseball. Charger pitching struck out 13 Pam Pack batters, and the Pam Pack collected only four hits. Washington had chances to score, but could not get the key hit with men on base. A total of eight runners were stranded on base during the game. For the game, Sulc collected two hits — a single and double — while Fred Holscher and Black collected singles.

Washington finishes up the back end of the home-and-home series at Ayden-Grifton today.