CHOCOWINITY — It had been 364 days since Brantley Cutler last took the mound. The junior southpaw made his Southside debut in a start against South Creek on Friday. He conquered his nerves quickly to roll through 3 1/3 innings before getting in a jam.

Cutler struck out nine Cougars in the 11-4 win, including seven batters in a row. With a 4-0 lead in the third, he walked in four runs to tie the game before handing the ball over to Cody Modlin, who went on to fan five himself.

“It was fun,” Cutler said. “I had a little bit of nerves coming in because I’ve been out because of my injury. It was fun. It felt great.”

Coach Kevin McRoy added, “He started out great. … He was throwing the ball consistently and pounding the strike zone early on. He was working his pitch count a little more than I would have liked. He did a good job for it being his first time on the mound in a year.”

Southside cashed in on defensive miscues by South Creek to score a pair of runs in the first, then another two in the third. The Seahawks, which rolled over Kinston in Tuesday’s season opener, faced their first bit of adversity once the visiting Cougars knotted the game at four apiece in the top of the fourth.

Instead of letting the momentum swing South Creek’s way, Southside responded in the bottom of the stanza. Demetrius Ebron reached on a fielding error by the visiting pitcher, and Cutler followed up with a single through the right side. Hunter Sparks stepped up and belted a base hit back up the middle to plate Ebron and Cutler, giving the Seahawks a lead they would only build on.

The hosts got another pair of runs off the bat of Josh Toler. His base knock through the right side plated Sparks and Will Warren.

“It’s great to see when you’re faced with a little adversity, how you’re going to respond,” McRoy said. “To see those guys not get shell shocked and come back ready to battle in the bottom half of that same inning.

“That inning felt like we earned those runs. We were getting guys on, getting hits, which is what I want from those guys.”

Modlin only faced 11 batters in the final three frames. Meanwhile, Southside’s offense chased Jackson Roberson from the mound before he could even get an out after coming on to start the fifth. Sparks’ sac-fly RBI pushed across another run in the fifth, and the Seahawks added two more on an error and a passed ball in the sixth.

“Cody is going to come in and Cody is going to be consistent,” McRoy said. “He’s one of those that will do anything you ask him at any time, and he’ll do it to the best of his ability. He’s just a great kid to have on our team.”

With the win, the Seahawks improve to 2-0 on the season. They’ll be back in action Tuesday at Beddingfield before traveling to Northside for a rivalry showdown.