Potent offense leading Washington’s early success
Published 2:06 pm Thursday, March 10, 2016
PINETOWN — With Wednesday’s 7-2 win at Northside, the Pam Pack has notched seven runs in each of its first four games. It’s proven to be a formula for success as the boys have won three in a row.
The lone loss in the bunch is a 9-7 shortcoming at Rose in the season opener. An unfortunate five-run inning for the Rampants helped power them past the Pam Pack. Since then, though, the defense has held the opposition to two or fewer runs while the offense has continued to pour on the scoring.
Four players had a hit and five crossed home plate in Wednesday’s win over the Panthers. The top of the batting order did its duty. Cody Godley and Frederick Holscher — the No. 2 and No. 3 batters, respectively — combined for three hits. Godley, Holscher and leadoff batter Matt Black scored four of the team’s seven runs.
“It’s been a couple of players. A few guys have been fairly consistent,” coach Kevin Leggett said. “We’re just manufacturing. We had one good hitting inning. That’s kind of what we’ve been doing this year.”
Washington showed offensive depth, too. Cooper Anderson and Tyler Harrell each had a hit and each scored a run from the bottom of the lineup. They helped spark a three-run fourth inning that doubled Washington’s lead.
Tripp Barfield led off by flying out to right field. The Pam Pack bounced back quickly when Anderson doubled to right-center field, which Harrell followed with a base hit of his own to the outfield.
The top of the order took over from there. Godley drove in Jacob Smith, who was pinch running for Anderson. His single to the right side also let Harrell advance to third, allowing him to easily score on a passed ball.
Washington manufactured runs however it could. The boys got on base by whatever means necessary and, once there, were aggressive in taking extra bases. Every passed ball was another step closer to home plate and they had no qualms with stealing bases with two outs.
“We’re manufacturing when we need to,” Leggett said. “We get walks, get guys over, steals, doing the little things we need to do to score. … If we can keep averaging seven a game, I’ll live with that all year. We can win some games with our pitching and defense.
“I figured every base we can get is a step closer to home. Any time I can get them away from that force out and make them make a long throw, it makes a big difference, too.”
The old saying goes, “If it aint broke, don’t fix it.” Regardless, the key to continued offensive dominance is consistency throughout the lineup.
“If we can just get more consistent,” Leggett said. “I’ve got a few guys that get a hit here and there, but as soon as we can come through and hit the ball hard, doing those things we need to do, we’re going to be a tough team to beat.”