By By EUGENE L. TINKLEPAUGH, Staff Writer
Thirteen years ago Northside’s baseball team won the state championships.
This past season under coach Addison Bass, the Panthers made it deeper into the state playoffs than they have since winning the title in 1994.
With seven of his 10 starters returning to the lineup next season, baseball at Northside is just at the threshold of success.
In addition to the team being at its top form in over a decade, Northside’s district round appearance in the NCHSAA Class 1A state playoffs is something no other area team did last season.
For this, Bass was named the Daily News Baseball Coach of the Year.
The Panthers, which finished 12-11, had a solid season, Bass noted. “The team played hard every outing and never gave up,” he said.
According to Bass, Northside pulled off a couple of huge, come-from-behind wins throughout the year.
Catcher Austin Swain, second baseman Will Allen and shortstop Eric Daniels were the team’s senior leaders.
For those seniors, last season was the first winning season of their prep careers. Bass said he’s proud of the fact that Swain, Allen and Daniels were able to finish prep baseball on a positive note.
He said making it to the third round of the state playoffs met his expectations for this past season.
Bass pointed out that his 11 ball players played multiple positions throughout the season.