Washington baseball team tops West Craven after flirting with no-hitter

Published 9:44 am Thursday, March 27, 2025

By Jason O. Boyd

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Washington High School’s baseball team went from a near no-hitter to a near loss. Thanks to several heroic plays, the Pam Pack prevailed.

Washington held on for a 5-3 victory over Eastern Plains Conference foe West Craven in a game played last Thursday. The win, coupled with a win at West Craven earlier in the week, put the Pam Pack at 6-3 overall, 2-0 in the EPC going into Tuesday’s key league game with Farmville Central at home.

“We just couldn’t seem to get the hit when we needed it,” Washington coach Will Tyson said. “But starting 2-0 is great because now we gotta run the gauntlet. We don’t have another bye week the rest of the year.

“So we’ve got to basically face everybody right in a row. And then Farmville’s gonna be tough.”

Washington starting pitcher Bryce Williams overcame two errors by the Pam Pack and six walks over six innings to hold the Eagles without a hit. Washington held a 5-1 lead through five innings before West Craven got a run in the sixth on a wild pitch and another in the seventh after Williams was replaced on the mound.

Williams finished with eight strikeouts over 5.2 innings before Luis Hernandez got the final out of the sixth. He and Adam Mizelle pitched in the seventh as the Eagles pushed across another run before a fly ball to center ended it.

“No, we don’t talk about it,” Williams said about handling the possible no-hitter. “We just play it out, because if we talk about it, then we’ll think about it, and then we’ll screw up every time. That’s how it goes.”

Washington had a big moment in the sixth that helped preserve the win. Hernandez threw a wild pitch that allowed the Eagles to score to make it 5-2. Tyler Shivar, batting for Blake Deam, hit a screamer for West Craven toward left field. Lane Brown made a running catch near the wall for the final out. It set off a celebration among Washington’s players, who were greeted by high-fives from Pam Pack coach Will Tyson and others.

“ I ran it off the bat, thought I was burnt,” Brown said. “Just took off running and held my glove out and it fell. Pretty much it.”

Washington made the most out of just three hits itself, scoring in each of the first four innings. Korbyn Arnold, Brown and Williams each had a hit with Arnold scoring twice. Brown, Jacob Spivey and Jackson Harding also scored.

“I didn’t think we hit as well as we should, but we still found a way on,” Brown said. “We still found a way around the bases.”

The win was a big confidence boost as the Pam Pack prepared to square off with Farmville Central on Tuesday and Friday. That two-game series could go a long way to determine the league champion.

“Yeah, I mean, it was a great all-around effort,” Tyson said. “I mean, we had a few errors there at the beginning, which cost us early. But we overcame them, which is great, which is what we’ve been talking about, being mentally strong, trying to just finish games.

“And that right there is proof that what we’re doing is starting to work. We get ourselves in a little trouble, but finished. Don’t worry about it, just finish.

“But these guys, especially like Bryce, I mean, he worked his butt off today. I think he was 110, 111 pitches.”

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