PINETOWN — Spring is in full swing. Wednesday marks the first local rivalry to hit the diamond. Washington travels to Northside as the two sides clash in baseball and softball.

It’s a young season, but there’s a good bit on the line. Both baseball clubs will be seeking their third wins of the campaign, with Northside looking to build on a 2-0 start.

The youthful Panthers have looked poised beyond their years thus far. They topped Columbia 13-9 in their last outing. They jumped out on the road with three runs in the top of the first inning, but Columbia claimed a 4-3 edge with a three-run showing in the third.

Northside was able to answer by exploding for six in the top of the fourth. However, the Wildcats scored four of their own in the bottom of the frame to cut the Panthers’ fresh lead to just 9-8.

It remained a one-run game going into the seventh. The Panthers sent three across home plate and shutout the home side in the bottom of the inning, sealing a hard-fought win.

Three Northside batters are having success on at least a third of their trips to the plate. Of those, two of them are sophomores: Matthew Marslender (.429 batting average) and Tanner Alligood (.333). Junior Brock Marsh (.429) rounds out the list of Panthers that are having early batting success.

Washington is the winner of its last two after opening the season with a 9-7 loss at Rose. The Pam Pack built up a 4-0 lead before Rose first broke through. The boys’ undoing was surrendering seven runs in two innings, which included a five-run explosion by the Rampants in the bottom of the sixth.

Since then, the boys — who are just as young a team as Northside — have conceded just two runs in two games. They blanked South Creek at home and topped Riverside, 7-2, on the road last week.

This game may come down to which group’s younger players are more mentally prepared. It only takes an error or two for things to get out of hand.

The script is the same for the Northside softball team. The Lady Panthers have outscored opponents 14-1 en route to a perfect 2-0 start. They’ll hope to keep things rolling at home against a Lady Pack club that is stacked with upperclassmen.

The Lady Pack got off to a rocky start last week when they hosted East Carteret, which is one of Northside’s 1-A Coastal Plains Conference foes. The offense struggled all evening, producing just one run, while the defense gave up half a dozen.

The defense didn’t fare much better the next night at Riverside. The girls gave up seven to the hosts, but the offense made a 180-degree turn in one day. Washington was able to light up Riverside for 14 runs to earn the win.

Northside, which remains one of its conference’s top teams, shouldn’t have too much trouble scoring against a Lady Pack offense that has been shaky early on. If that’s the case, it will come down to whether or not Washington can keep up.