Washington took care of business in the Regional softball tournament with wins over Hennessey and Morris.

That put them one step closer to a State title berth with only Lexington and the Super Regional tournament in the way.

Hennessey

The Warriors defeated Hennessey to open the Regional tournament.

They got off to a bit of a slow start offensively, but it didn’t matter because outstanding pitching and solid defense kept the Eagles grounded.

Freshman Payton Blackburn struck out 10 batters and allowed no walks in her one-hitter performance.

“We can be a little better at the plate,” said head coach Tylor Lampkin. “We’re maybe pressing a little too much, so we went back to the basics to get lined out.”

The Warriors scored one run in the first inning and two more in the second before a four-run third inning opened the game up.

Raelee Adkins was 3-3 with a double and a triple with one RBI.

Bentli Brantley was 1-1 with three RBIs and Presley Lucas was 3-4 with a double and an RBI.

“It took us a little while to get going before we were able to put it out of reach,” Lampkin said. “We didn’t put hits together very well.”

Washington scored another run in the fourth inning then capped the game with a three-run sixth.

Briley Beller was 1-2 with a double and knocked in the final run of the game.

Morris

Kinzlee Pogue had a day at the plate during the Warriors’ 17-2 win over Morris.

The junior went 2-3 with a home run and a double and had five ribbies.

Leadoff batter Emersyn Massey was 3-3 with a triple and two RBIs. She scored three times.

Washington got going a little faster at the plate and put up four runs in the first and second innings.

They really poured it on in the third when they scored seven more and finished with a two-run fourth inning.

Ally Dennis started in the circle and struck out two batters over three innings before Abby Byrd closed out the final inning.

Lampkin was able to play a lot of girls in both games.

“It was nice to get a lot of younger players some playoff experience,” he said.

Cache

The Warriors beat Cache 7-0 Monday night in a tune-up game.

The Washington pitching staff of Dennis, Byrd and Ellie Musgrove combined for seven strikeouts.

Pogue homered  and Massey was 1-3 with a triple.

Ava Salcedo and Daphne Palumbo both doubled.

“It was a good game to play,” Lampkin said. “We got some pitchers in for some work and it allowed us to get some confidence. We’re excited to play and get out there and see what we can do.”

Washington is 32-4.