Washington plays smart ball to beat Farmville Central, lead EPC

Published 6:07 pm Friday, March 28, 2025

By Jason O. Boyd

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The Washington High School baseball team is in a much different place than it was this time last season.

The Pam Pack scored six runs in the sixth inning and went on to beat Farmville Central, 11-5, on Tuesday in a key Eastern Plains Conference game. The win put Washington at 7-4 overall, 3-0 in the EPC going into Friday’s rematch at Farmville Central.

“You win the inning, you win enough innings,” Washington coach Will Tyson said. “Then eventually what’s gonna happen is you’re gonna win the ball game. I mean, that right there, I mean, we chipped away, chipped away, chipped away to a point where we were then in it.

“And then all it needed was one little crack, one little crack, and we got a crack right there in the six. And that crack all of a sudden became wide open, and we just kept pulling it in. So it worked out great in our favor.

This time last year, Washington was struggling through a 4-16 record, 3-9 in the EPC. The Pack dropped their first six league games, including two against Farmville Central, and never found solid footing.

It’s much different this time around.

Tyson has this season’s team playing well and finding ways to win when hits don’t come in abundance. He’s had some key players step up with solid pitching and clutch defense. Although the team fell 6-0 to unbeaten East Carteret on Wednesday in a possible Class 2A state playoff game, the Pack are a much different club and doing the things this time around they were not able to last season.

The Pack had one of their best offensive outings of the season in Tuesday’s win. They scored three runs in the first inning after the Jaguars opened up with a run of their own. Farmville Central took a 5-3 lead with a four-run third inning before the Pam Pack had their dramatic sixth inning.

It all started with a smart move by Tyson before the sixth inning began.

The Jaguars sent senior ace pitcher and UNC Wilmington commit Trey Williford to the mound to start the sixth. Tyson realized that Williford had pitched the previous Friday and didn’t have the innings available to throw on Tuesday. He pointed this out to the officials and the Jaguars, who, after some debate, replaced Williford with Connor Kessler.

“Yeah, it was a huge difference, because if we face their number one right there, this game’s completely different,” Tyson said. “And it was kind of one of those things, do the research, and I don’t know the exact ruling because it’s an interpretation. And the last thing I want to do is get a kid ejected because he’s ineligible.

“I got a lot of respect for that coaching staff, that team, and I don’t want to play like that. I don’t like to play like that. I’d rather … let’s play head-to-head, let’s see who is best, and the winner will come out in the end.

Washington pounced on the Jaguars for those six runs. Bryce Williams had a sacrifice fly that scored Trey Brown to give the Pack the lead for good at 6-5. A bases-loaded walk to Wayland Mitchell scored Brody Comardalle to push the lead to 7-5.

The Jaguars then went with Brett Cash on the mound but Washington continued to score. Trey Williford had a two-run single and Zach Cash drilled a double to left that plated two more runs for the final margin.

“Yeah, that was a big part of it because we tend to put ourselves in tough spots, but we always stay through it, stay through it, and we usually get through it out, get out, and just chipping away at it is our biggest thing,” said Jacob Spivey, who went 3-for-4 with a run and two RBIs at the plate plus got the win in relief.

“We like to say win the inning, so that’s what happened there. We kept winning the inning, winning the inning, and then finally it broke through.”

East Carteret 6, Washington 0

The Pam Pack had no answer for Mariners freshman pitcher Tanner Wade. He went seven innings, gave up two hits, struck out five and walked one to keep his team unbeaten on the season.

It also didn’t help that Eli Jenkins hit the first pitch from Pack starting pitcher Trenton Baldree for a home run. Three pitches later, Jonathan Piner hit a solo homer of his own for a 2-0 lead.

“Trenton kept us in the game,” Tyson said. “And unfortunately, we just ran into a very good pitcher that we just could not time up, couldn’t hit well.

“They seemed to barrel every ball they hit, and we just couldn’t. It was just one of those nights where you tip your hat at the guy and say congratulations, he pitched very well, very efficient.

Lane Brown got an infield hit in the third inning but was left at second base. Will Glover got a single to center in the sixth.

Baldree settled down after the first inning and kept the Pack in it until the Mariners broke through in the middle innings with four runs. He gave up six earned runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.

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