Power ball pays off for Pack
Published 6:27 pm Saturday, April 27, 2013
![The Washington softball team celebrates after Justyce McKissick’s game-tying home run in the fifth inning against. D.H.. Conley. The Pack would win the game 7-5 on an Adriana Tyson walk-off homer in the eighth. (WDN Photo/Brian Haines)](http://www.wdnweb.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2013/04/WHS-SB-Conley-13-celeb-web.jpg)
The Washington softball team celebrates after Justyce McKissick’s game-tying home run in the fifth inning against. D.H. Conley. The Pack would win the game 7-5 on an Adriana Tyson walk-off homer in the eighth. (WDN Photo/Brian Haines)
The Pam Pack played power ball on Friday night and turned out to be big winners as a Justyce McKissick two-run home run in the fifth tied the ball game up before Adriana Tyson delivered a mammoth two-run walk-off home run in the eighth to lift Washington past Coastal Conference rival D.H. Conley and keep the team in a tie for first place in the standings.
With the scored deadlocked at five with one out in the bottom of the eighth and nobody on, D.H. Conley coach Wayne Deans was determined not to let McKissick’s bat beat him and elected to intentional walk the Pack slugger. He got his wish, but it came with a catch like a Greek tragedy as Tyson stepped to the plate and crushed a Rachel Wiedner offering over the left field fence sending the Pam Pack faithful into a frenzy.
“Wow!,” said a near speechless Pam Pack coach Doug Whitehead after the game. “We forever have played close ball games with Conley, they’re great competition, they have great ball players and coaches. We were down, we were up, we were down and they we battled back. To win it in extra innings in front of the home crowd on Washington Youth Softball League Night was just a wonderful thing.”
The Pam Pack amassed seven runs on six hits and were led by McKissick who went 2-3 with a double, a home run and four RBIs, while Tyson went 1-3 with two RBIs, Anna Hardison was 1-2 and scored twice, Haley Hutchins went 1-3 with a run and Haley Wright was 1-3 with an RBI.
Washington also got a strong game from catcher Allison Brantley who picked off a runner at first base and nailed another trying to steal second.
D.H. Conley got on the board first as it rallied for two runs enabled by a Pam Pack miscue in right field to take an early lead.
Washington responded in the home half of the inning as McKissick drove in two runs and Wright delivered an RBI to go up 3-2.
Conley would tie the game up in the third when Julia Allsbrook smashed a long RBI double before starting pitcher Rebekah Langston deftly worked her way out of the inning.
Langston threw six innings, allowing three earned runs while striking out seven in a solid effort for Washington.
Haley Hutchins earned the win as she threw a scoreless seventh and eighth innings, allowing three hits and striking out one.
The Vikings reclaimed the lead in the fifth when Danielle Nadeau doubled and Kori Adams walked before Allsbrook belted a deep fly to right that could not be contained by Washington and allowed two runs to score.
The inning drained the momentum from Washington but it was quickly restored in its next at-bat as Hardison reached base after being hit by a pitch to set the stage for McKissick’s two-run blast that rocketed over the right field fence.
After a scoreless sixth, Whitehead summoned Haley Hutchins to pitch the seventh, giving the Vikings hitters a contrasting style to deal with from the lefty Langston. The moved worked as Hutchins kept Conley off the board for two innings to pick up the win.
D.H. Conley 201 020 00 — 5 12
Washington 300 020 02 — 7 6
WP: Haley Hutchins; LP: Rachel Wiedner
Hitting: W — Anna Hardison 1-3 (2 R), Haley Hutchins 1-3 (1 R), Justyce McKissick 2-3 (3 R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI), Adriana Tyson 1-4 (1 R, HR, 2 RBI), Haley Wright 1-3 (RBI).