PINETOWN — Defensive struggles were Northside’s undoing Wednesday against Washington. The aggressive Pam Pack took advantage of every passed ball and error, inching closer to home base with each slip up.

It’s become a bit of a theme as of late. Northside won its first three games of the season before falling, 7-2, to local rival Washington. After giving up just a pair of runs in their season-opening win against South Creek, the Panthers were scored on 15 times in their next two games.

The Panthers aren’t too concerned with the state of their defense, though. The season is young and the team is younger. For that reason, the they don’t find their performance against Washington too alarming.

“We’re so darn young and you’re going to have growing pains,” Northside coach Keith Boyd said. “With the big crowd, I think we were a little wide-eyed. You look at our young kids didn’t have a good night at the plate tonight. Most of the mistakes that were made in the field were our young guys.

“I think, as the season goes on, they’re going to mature. That’s the bright spot. I know those guys have played enough baseball that that’s going to come around. They’ll make those plays later on. I think we were just a little tight at times. That’s to be understood for being as young as we are.”

Sophomore starter Zach Woolard surrendered three runs to the Pam Pack, earning just one out before getting pulled for his senior counterpart by the same name. Washington scored thrice in the top of the fourth, too. Northside was able to score once the fourth and fifth innings. Without the early setback, the deficit would have been a much more manageable 4-2 heading into the final two frames.

Sans Washington’s pair of three-run innings, the Northside defense looked fine. The senior Woolard only faced four batters in the second and third innings, minimizing the Pam Pack’s scoring chances.

After Woolard walked leadoff batter Neill Jennings in the fifth, the Panthers opted to have Chase Sauls relieve him for the final three frames. Jennings ended up scoring from third on an error in right field. Sauls did his part in helping the Panthers escape the inning by fanning Nick Everette and Cody Godley.

That was the last run Northside conceded, despite a fielding error in the seventh and Washington’s continued aggression on the bases.

From here, the Panthers shift their focus to doing what they can in practice to sharpen their defensive skills in the field. Boyd is confident in his team bouncing back and improving as the season progresses.

“We’re going to be OK,” Boyd said. “We didn’t play very crisp. Only to lose 7-2, I’m taking some good away from that. … We start the game off a little bit better … Make those plays, that’s a 4-2 or 4-3 ball game easy.”