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The Washington girls softball team is in its usual spot at this point in the season and the baseball team is trending upward thanks to strong pitching from Emma Orr and Tanner Moore.

The Pack softball team is 13-3 overall and 8-1 in the Eastern Plains Conference, in line for their seventh straight league title with three games left.

WHS has outscored their last six opponents, 76-1, since a 2-0 loss to Farmville Central as Orr, a junior left-hander, continues to dominate her opponents. The bats have also come alive as the Pack is hitting .356 as a team.
Junior Addison Miller (.464), sophomore Carley Woolard (.462), Orr (.436) and senior Micah Lilley (.429) lead the team in most categories. Orr has 13 extra-base hits including nine doubles and four home runs, while Miller has 12 and Woolard has 10 including four triples.

Orr has struck out 182 batters in 95.2 innings with an 0.73 ERA to rank among the state pitching leaders.

“She has been good since her first day as a freshman, but her biggest improvement is not getting frazzled when errors happen,” coach Brad Horton said. “She has been outstanding and our defense behind her has improved a lot since we made four errors against Farmville. We had two freshmen (Ryleigh Elks & Honor Edwards) make great catches in the outfield that saved us against Southwest Edgecombe and our infield defense is better. We’ve worked on defense a lot in practice and it’s paying off.”

The Pam Pack baseball season started in nightmarish fashion as the team lost its first 13 games. A lack of clutch hitting was one of the culprits as WHS had the bases loaded 19 times and only scored once. Meanwhile, the pitchers were walking too many batters and fielding miscues piled up.

The season turned a couple of weeks ago with a 5-1 victory at North Pitt. The Pack defeated Lawrence Academy, 10-8, then North Pitt again, 9-1 before Tuesday’s nine-inning 2-1 victory over Southwest Edgecombe.

Senior Tanner Moore went the distance on the mound, giving up three hits without a walk and one unearned run, allowing the Pack to literally walk off with the victory as SWE issued four straight base on balls to start the bottom of the ninth.

“Tanner pitched a remarkable game and has really grown into our ace,” coach Will Tyson said. “He kept the hitters off-balance all night and was barely over 70 pitches in seven innings. Our team is starting to trust each other and there’s a great vibe in our dugout now. This was the team I’ve been hoping to see all year and I hope we finish strong.”