Washington uses five pitchers in loss
By BRIAN HAINES
Brian@wdnweb.com
Sports Writer
Washington slugged six runs and used five pitchers but it could not top South Johnston as the Pam Pak fell 13-6 in its Central Carolina Scholastic Summer League matchup on Monday night.
Washington fell behind 4-1 after three innings but tallied five runs over the next four in the loss.
Washington slugger Will Phelps, who reached base on a well-hit double, scored the Pack’s first run of the game as he would advance to third and cross home plate during a double steal in which Will Masten was gunned down at second.
In the fourth, Will Swain led off the inning with a double and was brought home by a Masten, who belted an RBI double. Avery Woolard kept the momentum going as he stepped up to the plate to crush an RBI double of his own to cut the score the Trojans’ lead to 10-3.
After a scoreless fifth, the Pack tacked on three more runs, two of which came when Swain and Phelps stole home on two separate wild pitches. A Masten sac fly plated the Pack’s final run.
So far during its CCSSL play the Pam Pack (1-3) has been inconsistent at the plate, but its defense has been solid.
“There is a lot of little things that I’m pleased about,” Washington coach Matt Burnett said. “We really stress pitching and defense and if we can throw strikes and let our defense work that’s exactly what our identity will be moving forward.”
Washington got to look at several pitchers on Monday as rising sophomore Brandon Cherry, who spent most of his freshman season catching for the Pam Pack, got the start and tossed three innings allowed four runs.
Woolard followed Cherry and looked sharp early as he threw a scoreless fourth inning and gave up one run in the fifth before South Johnston rallied for five runs in the sixth during his 2 2/3 innings of work. Christian Lambert would come on to record the final out of the inning before Will Swain (2/3) and Devon Van Cura (1/3) combined to surrender three runs in the seventh.
“Our pitchers have to make sure they go out there and throw strikes. One thing we talked about as a staff is that this (league) is a great learning tool for those guys to go out there and compete,” Burnett said. “I told our guys that what our pitchers need to understand is that they need to go out and throw strikes to let our defense play … We are not so much looking for wins, of course we want to win and have success, but we look at this more as a five-week practice session for our guys to see what we could become in 2012.”
Burnett also said he liked what he saw from a lot of his players at the plate.
“Will Swain is always going to hit the baseball, Phelps hit well and Masten continues to do little things that show up in the box score as fielder’s choices but one thing that he’s done through three games is a good job of situational hitting,” Burnett said.
The Trojans were led by Aaron Godwin, who drove in two runs in the first, while Lane Johnson plated two runs in the fourth. Austin Lee ended the contest going 2-3 with two RBIs, while Will Dupree pitched four innings to get the win.