A promising early-inning offense barrage ended in another defeat for the Washington baseball team on Tuesday, as the Pam Pack dropped their first game matching up against new conference foe Beddingfield, 8-6.

“I don’t know what happened,” said manager Ryan Whitney. “We play scared right now. Credit to them. They didn’t quit when we scored, and we just couldn’t make plays when we needed to.”

After recording just one hit against Farmville Central last week, Washington came out of the gate swinging against the Bruins’ starter, senior Christian Wilson.

Trey Brunson and Patrick Thompson notched back-to-back singles in the first, and were plated by a single to left field from Neil Jennings. Washington tacked on two more runs the following inning with another pair of hits from Thompson and Jennings.

Pam Pack starter Zack Parker administered just three hits in the first two innings, but began to become inconsistent in his delivery as the game progressed. Beddingfield capitalized, and touched up Parker for two runs in the third and three runs in the fourth, the majority off sloppy fielding from the Pam Pack defense.
“Zack did a good job,” said Whitney. “He could have been better in some spots, but he did a good job of keeping us in it. He gave us an opportunity to win.”

After the third inning, the Bruins’ pitching completely silenced the Pam Pack, striking out eight hitters over the final four innings. Whitney desperately tried to motivate his young roster, but the Washington lineup failed to build any sort of momentum through the second half of the contest.

The Bruins added to their lead and sealed the victory in the sixth inning on an error by shortstop Jamond Ebron.

“It’s good to see the guys clicking at the plate, but the bottom line is we need to make plays,” said Whitney. “We haven’t been able to put all three facets together yet, and until we do, we’re going to continue to struggle. Once we do, I think we can be a good ball club.”

Brunson and Thompson ended 2-for-4 at the plate, respectively, while Jennings finished with three hits. The rest of the lineup combined for just three hits total.

The Pam Pack will aim to pick up win No. 2 tomorrow against North Johnston at home. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.