For the third straight night the Washington and Southside softball teams have prepared to play their respective playoff games and for the third straight night they lost to Mother Nature as sporadic rain storms washed out any hope the two teams had of taking the diamond on Thursday.
Both teams are coming off of impressive first round victories as Southside (18-3), the No. 1 seed from the Four Rivers Conference, mashed North Edgecombe 20-0 to advance to the second round of the NCHSAA 1-A playoffs where it will host No. 4 Riverside (17-6). That game was originally scheduled for Tuesday and will now, with any luck, be played today at 6 p.m.
Washington (19-5), the No. 3 seed out of the Coastal Conference, also cruised into the second round as it topped Southern Nash 12-1 to set up stellar NCHSAA 3-A second round matchup with conference rival and defending state champs D.H. Conley (17-6), the No. 1 seed from the Coastal Conference. Like the Seahawks, the Pam Pack have been waiting since Tuesday to resume the postseason and expect to do so today at 7 p.m. at D.H. Conley (or possibly the Sarah Law Complex) should weather permit.
“In my six years of being around high school athletics I have never seen anything like this,” Washington coach Doug Whitehead said. “We feel like a puppet and somebody else has control of the strings. We just can’t do anything about it.”
On Tuesday the Pam Pack packed into a bus prepared to play but the game was called before they left the parking lot. On Wednesday, Washington was able to get some work in by going to The Cage to take a few hacks. On Thursday, the team once again boarded the bus, and this time made it to Greenville only to have the contest cancelled after yet another storm.
Whitehead and the rest of the team made the most of the afternoon as they stopped to get dinner at McCalister’s Deli before heading back home. Whitehead said the situation has at this point become comical and that his players have done a good job of staying loose.
“The players have kept their spirits up and have been cackling and we just can’t believe this is happening,” Whitehead said.
Thanks to the delay, both Southside and Washington already know what awaits them in the District Round of the playoffs should they win their respective games as the winner of the Seahawks-Knights contest will advance to play No. 2 South Creek, while the Pam Pack-Vikings winner will move on to face No. 1 C.B. Aycock. Both District Round games are scheduled for Saturday, should weather permit.