DEFENSIVE BATTLE: Pam Pack wins standoff with Cougars
Published 10:50 pm Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Tripp Barfield’s big night helped lift Washington to a 4-2 win over Southwest Edgecombe on Tuesday evening. The junior turned in seven full frames of work on the mound in the win. The game-winning hit also came off his bat in the bottom of the sixth when he broke a 1-1 tie with a bouncing ball through the right side to plate Cody Godley and Frederick Holscher.
Cougar pitcher Jarratt Mobley and his strong arm kept the Pam Pack bats at bay throughout much of the game. He struggled a bit in the sixth frame, though. Godley led off by drawing a walk and Holscher reached thanks to an error at shortstop.
Mobley bounced back with consecutive strikeouts. With two outs, Barfield stepped up and plated Godley and Holscher, who had moved into scoring position on a passed ball.
“That’s all we ask from (Barfield). He’s done very well,” coach Kevin Leggett said. “I think he’s only given up one earned run in conference so far. He keeps throwing like that and we can back him up with the hits like we did tonight in those last two innings, we’ll be tough to beat.”
“I think confidence is a good thing when you’re hitting,” Leggett added. Barfield recently had a game-winning home run at North Pitt, too. “I think that home run started him off. Tonight, hopefully, it carries on to the next game because I think his confidence was a little shaken earlier in the year. That’s changing now.”
Mobley only needed an out to escape the inning with minimal damage, but walked Tyler Harrell and hit Cooper Anderson. Chris Sulc added an insurance run by plating Harrell with a line shot to centerfield. Anderson tried to squeeze a pair of runs out of the hit, but was thrown out at home.
Washington’s defense conceded a fluke run in the top of the seventh, but hung on for the win. Mobley kicked things off with a single to short and moved to second on a passed ball. With one out, T.J. Harris grounded into what should have been a double play, but the infield umpire missed Tucker Pridgen getting tagged on his way to second. The missed call allowed Mobley to score.
Still leading 4-2, Washington was able to seal the win on a foul out to third base.
The Pam Pack’s defense shined throughout most of the game, as did Southwest Edgecombe’s. The two battled through three scoreless frames before the Cougars broke through in the top of the fourth. Pridgen reached on a dropped third strike. The visitors strung together three hits off of Barfield. Kevin Braswell scored Pridgen from third on a singe through the right side.
Holscher drew even in the bottom half of the stanza. He scored a little-league homer when he tripled to the right-center fence and came home on a botched throw to third.
Holscher provided the game’s defensive highlight, too. With one out and a runner on first, Zach Johnson drilled a line drive to second base, which Holscher snagged out of the air.
“When the defense plays well and we hit like we did in the last two innings … the problem with the losses has been not scoring runs,” Leggett said. “It hasn’t been the defense as much. It hasn’t been the pitching. It’s been scoring runs and tonight we did.”
Washington now sets its sights on a trip to Beddingfield on Friday.