Eastern Randolph walks off on Washington

Published 4:48 pm Wednesday, May 17, 2017

RAMSEUR — Washington matched Eastern Randolph tit for tat in Tuesday’s third-round meeting in the 2-A softball playoffs. The Lady Pack answered the bell each time the Lady Wildcats scored until the hosts walked off with a run in the bottom of the seventh to win, 6-5.

Eastern Randolph struck twice in the first. Washington responded with two of its own in the third. The Lady Wildcats pulled ahead, 5-2, in the fifth, but the visiting Lady Pack drew even immediately to tie the game, 5-5, going into the final stretch.

Washington only collected four hits. Hailey Harris and Mary B. Dixon had a pair each. Patience at the plate yielded three walks, though, and Eastern Randolph let five runners reach via error.

Washington wasn’t clean in the field, either. Four Lady Pack errors produced three of Eastern Randolph’s six runs. Pitchers Abbigail Tucker and Harris still did what they could to neutralize their opponent’s offense. Tucker, in her 5 2/3 innings of work, gave up five runs (three earned) on five hits, a walk and struck out three. Harris pitched the remaining 1 1/3 innings. She was tagged for an unearned run.

Harris scored twice. Jordan Pierce, Meghan Moore and Briley Waters each scored once. Dixon notched a team-best two RBI.

The loss marks the end of the road for Washington and its nine seniors. The third-round exit was earlier than many had hoped for. Even so, the graduating class — Harris, Pierce, Waters, Moore, Meghan Horton, Sarah Lynch, Jada Lodge, Chaleigh Baynor and Haley Witham — helped put together the best two-year stretch in program history. Last year marked the first Lady Pack squad to reach the 2-A regional championship, and this year’s season was strong, too.